There is a distinct family feel to the USA scoring charts at the , with three players who have found the net being the sons of famous athletes.
In the opening , playmaker Gio Reyna - the son of four-time World Cup star Claudio Reyna - put the icing on the cake with a late strike. Then in the , full-back Alex Freeman - whose father is former NFL star Antonio Freeman - ensured the three points.
To close out the group stage, central midfielder Sebastian Berhalter scored one and set up another .
Watching in the stands were 32 members of Berhalter's family, including his father Gregg, a former player and coach at the World Cup for the Stars and Stripes.
In a touching moment, the Vancouver Whitecaps star immediately looked to his family members in the stands at Los Angeles Stadium after levelling the scores at 2-2 with his maiden World Cup goal and blew them a kiss.
"They have done so much to get me in the position that I'm at and I'm so thankful for them. That was a special moment," Sebastian .
After watching on with immense pride, Gregg took time to speak to FIFA about seeing his son live out his dreams in real time.
Gregg Berhalter: To see your son performing at a high level is always amazing no matter what the game is. But when he does it at the World Cup stage, which is the biggest stage in soccer, is just something to behold... it's really special. To have an assist and a goal in a single game in the World Cup is incredible. I know how much it means to him... he went to his first World Cup at a year old and has been following the World Cup ever since then. It's a really special feeling for the whole family.
You name it... it was his grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, sisters, mother and friends. There were 32 of us in total so there were a ton of people there.
Actually, he didn't know where I was sitting. I was with his uncle in a different section. He knew where the whole group was and that's what he acknowledged. They were all in the family section and he acknowledged them.
Unfortunately, I had to go back to the airport as I had a red-eye flight to get back to training [with the Chicago Fire]. He came into the stands. It says a lot about him that his feeling was also disappointment that they didn't win the game, that they ended up losing the game late on. I think no matter how much of a personal high he had, he was also really disappointed that the team didn't win that night.
I think worldwide that is what the World Cup can do for you, it's just that big of an event. The special thing about a World Cup is that the moment you are playing the whole world is tuned into those games so you can make a huge impact in a short period of time. In the United States, he is very well known for his performances in [Major League Soccer] and he was an All-Star two years in a row so he has that recognition Stateside but the World Cup can certainly amplify your name on the world stage;
They entered the tournament in a knockout competition, they had to play in the [UEFA] play-off so they are used to high-pressure and high-stakes games and that always makes it challenging. The second thing is they have already played a host nation [a group stage match with Canada] so they know what that atmosphere is going to be like. I expect them to be very compact and very physical but we have some advantages over them. We are very athletic and very mobile and those are things that are going to play to our advantage.
Sources: FIFA Official
