GenZero excerpt Archives - Generation Zero

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Generation Zero

Founding Fathers, Hidden Histories
and the Making of Soccer in America

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Generation Zero

Founding Fathers, Hidden Histories
and the Making of Soccer in America

Only Now Recovering from ‘Berhalter Fatigue’? Time to Buckle Back Up

Only Now Recovering from ‘Berhalter Fatigue’? Time to Buckle Back Up

By Hal Phillips|2026-03-15T08:15:21-04:00March 27th, 2023|GZ blog|

My own case of Berhalter Fatigue kicked in around Dec. 17, 2022 — a day before the World Cup final, 10 days into the Berhalter-Reyna Family Barbecue, and two weeks after Holland dumped the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team (USMNT) out of the tournament. The tawdry nature of Berhalter’s unprecedented bust-up with the Reynas could not be fully understood until last week, when the U.S. Soccer Federation released its third-party report. No one emerges unscathed from this full and [...]

June 20, 1975: The Night They Came for Pelé

June 20, 1975: The Night They Came for Pelé

By Hal Phillips|2026-03-15T09:24:57-04:00January 6th, 2023|GZ blog|

[Ed. This excerpt was taken from Chapter 1 of "Generation Zero: Founding Fathers, Hidden Histories and the Making of Soccer in America," by author Hal Phillips. It was published by Dickinson-Moses Press in June 2022.] 1. Hotbeds: When they came for Pelé that brisk June night, the locals ripped the shirt from his back. They absconded with one of his shoes, too, and tore his vintage Seventies-era short shorts. Global sporting icons deserve far more solicitous treatment, we can [...]