University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Success Abroad Leads Berhalter to U.S. National Team
July 29, 2002 | Men's Soccer
July 29, 2002
By Adam Lucas
Tar Heel Monthly
Austin Powers may be the original international man of mystery, but former Tar Heel soccer player Gregg Berhalter is almost as hard to track as the movie superhero.
After leaving Carolina after his junior season, Berhalter's professional soccer career has taken him all over the world, including stops to play professionally in Holland and England. His success with those squads landed him on the U.S. national team, which competed last month in the FIFA World Cup in Korea, the world's most-watched sporting event.
It was on that stage that Berhalter, a defender, very nearly scored a goal heard round the globe. After the United States had already shocked most of the soccer community by advancing to the quarterfinals, they faced an imposing matchup with world power Germany. Trailing 1-0 late in the second half, Berhalter ripped a shot that appeared to be turned away only by a German player's hand, which could have resulted in a penalty kick. The official did not see the infraction, however, and Germany eliminated the Americans.
"It happened so fast, but I thought it would go in," Berhalter told TarHeelBlue.com by telephone from London last week, where he has returned to continue his pro career. "I said to myself, 'That's a goal.' Then it didn't happen, and it's disappointing because the referee was in good position but didn't make the right call."
A stress fracture in his left foot had kept the New Jersey native out of the 1998 World Cup, and a fractured right foot held him out of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, so Berhalter soaked in the atmosphere in the World Cup.
Red-shirted Korean fans filled stadiums in the host country, and it wasn't unusual for one million citizens to fill the streets to watch games on television. To Americans, it looked like a passionate outpouring of support. To Berhalter's discerning international eye, he knew there were other factors at work.
"They supported their team really well," he said. "But some of it was forced, because the government taught them chants and would use TV to teach their fans songs to sing."
The support back home wasn't quite that rabid, but U.S. players were encouraged to see that fans regularly made a practice of waking up early enough to catch live broadcasts of the games, which sometimes aired as early as 2:30 a.m. That type of fan involvement might eventually be enough to coax Berhalter home from England, where he lives with his wife and 14-month-old son.
"You miss your friends and family and having that network around you," he said. "We don't have any family or anything over here."
He does have a new skill - six years in Holland forced him to become fluent in Dutch. Berhalter, who will celebrate his 29th birthday this week, now plays for Crystal Palace, an English First Division squad.
From there, he spreads the fame of University of North Carolina soccer. Former Tar Heel teammate Eddie Pope is a teammate on the national team as well, and Carolina head coach Elmar Bolowich hopes that the tandem has the opportunity to provide plenty of good publicity for the school in the international soccer community.
"It's great publicity for our university and our department," Bolowich said. "Our university has a great reputation abroad."
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com
