After their narrow 1-0 loss against the United States in the Concacaf Nations League, head coach Hugo Perez was asked about his future, specifically, if he would be open to coaching the USMNT.
With El Salvador just losing out to a tough US side, thanks to a Ricardo Pepi goal in the 62nd minute that saw them knocked out of the Nations League, the Salvadorian-American manager was asked about potentially taking over the Stars and Stripes.
The US job has been in limbo since Gregg Berhalter’s contract expired at the end of 2022. After three months and several controversies later, Berhalter still isn’t back in the picture. Instead, interim head coach Anthony Hudson has taken over the reins.
“If I say yes or no, they’ll kill me in my country,” Perez responded.
“I know they have an interim coach right now. I hope, for the sake of our football here in America – let’s face it, the US wants to win the World Cup. It’s a great opportunity that they’re not going to qualify for the [2026] World Cup, they’re already in.”
The former US international has been in charge of Los Cuscatlecos since 2021, leading them to the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup knockout rounds and the final stages of World Cup qualifying in 2022. Before this, the 59-year-old spent two years (2012-14) coaching youth US national teams, getting to know many players currently with the senior squad.
“Look, I know all those players. I don’t know what percentage [of them] started with us in the national team, ” he said.
Perez went on to say that while coaching will be important for the US going forward, the player pool, that he once coached as youth products are the key for their future success.
“I’m sure they’re going to make the right decision who they’re going to bring, or leave [Hudson] as the coach. Basically, the coaches are important, don’t get me wrong, but the players that they have, OK, those players that they have right now … you’re talking about a generation for another 15 years,” he continued.
“I think they took one team and played Grenada [on Friday], then they brought some other players to play against us. So that tells you the depth that they have, and you go back to the Under-23s, the same thing. So it’s a matter of, whoever comes in, can they really take the best out of them and be able to better than what they are already?”
While Perez would be a phenomenal appointment for the US, he reiterated his desire to stay with El Salvador and lead them to their first World Cup…
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