Gregg Berhalter (/bərˈhɔːltər/; born August 1, 1973) is a retired American soccer player and current head coach of Columbus Crew SC in Major League Soccer.

Playing career

Early life and education

Berhalter was born in Englewood, New Jersey and grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey, and was a high school teammate of Claudio Reyna at Saint Benedict's Preparatory School in Newark, New Jersey. He played college soccer at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1993, he spent the collegiate off season playing for the Raleigh Flyers of the USISL.

Professional

Berhalter left UNC after his junior year, signing with Dutch club Zwolle in 1994. He later played for Sparta Rotterdam and SC Cambuur Leeuwarden in the Netherlands (later they had US born executive Alex Pama also there), and with Crystal Palace in England (where he briefly played alongside Jovan Kirovski). During his spell at Crystal Palace he scored once against Bradford City.

In 2002, Berhalter signed with Energie Cottbus of the German Bundesliga, and went on to make 111 league appearances with the team, captaining them to a successful promotion back to the Bundesliga. In 2006, Berhalter signed with TSV 1860 München of the 2. Bundesliga, and was named captain of the team, he stayed there for a further two and a half years, making 73 league appearances for Die Löwen.