Gregg Berhalter will become the latest U.S. men’s national team coach. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Soccer)

In what has to have been the worst-kept secret over the past several weeks, if not months, Columbus Crew SC head coach Gregg Berhalter was named head coach of the U.S. national team Sunday.

Berhalter will succeed interim head coach Dave Sarachan, who had been at the helm of the team for 14 months after Bruce Arena stepped down in November 2017 due to the Americans’ failure to reach the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

With a quarter century of experience as a player and head coach, the 45-year-old Berhalter became the first U.S. World Cup veteran to take the reins of the men’s national side. He will be introduced during a press conference with Stewart, U.S. Soccer President Carlos Cordeiro and CEO/Secretary General Dan Flynn on Tuesday at 12 p.m. ET. The press conference will be streamed live on ussoccer.com.

Chosen by U.S. men’s national team general manager Earnie Stewart following a search process, Berhalter’s appointment was ratified by the U.S. Soccer board of directors by a unanimous vote Saturday.

“We are excited to announce Gregg as the next head coach of the U.S. men’s national team,” Cordeiro said in a statement. “As an experienced former National Team player and highly regarded professional coach, we are confident he is the best person to guide our program forward. We are looking forward to formally introducing him on Tuesday in New York.”

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.