The USMNT is eliminated from the World Cup, everything goes wrong in an unhealthy loss to Belgium
Seattle – Lumen Field was full, but no one was singing. Similarly, the US men’s national team entered the stadium on Monday but ended up not arriving. There were few signs of trouble on the road as they lost 4-1 to In Belgium in the round of 16, a series of impactful and important wins that ensured the vibes were as high as they could be. Not only did they, arguably, have their best scorer, but country singer Lainey Wilson was sending them good luck messages after getting a head coach. Mauricio Pochettino he was a huge fan and “Take Me Home, Country Roads” was an inescapable national anthem. An easy game did not await the USMNT, but there was no reason to suggest that they would not give it their best fight.
Time, however, proved too much for them from the moment the opening whistle blew. The USMNT who seemed to be enjoying themselves in high style were nowhere to be found. Instead, they gave Belgium, who started without star Kevin De Bruyne once Jeremy Dokuand gave them an early goal. The US was doing nothing Charles De Ketelaere scored the first goal, defenders Tim Ream and Sergino Dest were among those who watched the balls rather than trying to stop the opponents. It set the tone for the rest of the night as the USMNT put together a scare in a way that good teams like the USMNT rarely do.
Unable to string together a few passes, midfielders like Tyler Adams and Malik Tillman shockingly couldn’t do much with the ball at their feet. Tillman’s goal from a free kick was canceled out almost immediately as Belgium breathed a sigh of relief after a minute. De Ketelaere managed to complete the brace after playing for just over half an hour. Christian Pulisic was absent and asked to be substituted after injury and at the start of the second half the USMNT had a few more attacking ideas, but lacked the clinical ability to pose even the slightest threat to Belgium’s defence. Creating things through open play was a fruitless exercise for the US team, who played with fear as they faced their first official challenge at the World Cup.
Even if the main blow came from a mistake that goaltender Matt Freese was always prone to sacrifice on the way. Hans Vanaken57th minute goal, USMNT fans were already hoping against hope. The team that talked about the big game and stood as well as they did to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup that was not easy for them was very nervous, the moment was somehow too big for them. They failed at the first moment when things really mattered, they collapsed the moment the pressure felt too much. Three and a half years after the crushing defeat in In the Netherlands in the round of 16 Qatar — and three and a half years of repeatedly citing those losses as a lesson learned — the USMNT did little to show that they had truly matured, no matter how much they talked about their maturity.
The loss was bad, the way they lost was worse
The loss itself was not a problem. Even the Belgian side is no match as this one makes for a strong opponent regardless of the circumstances. The real problem on Monday was that the fears many had about this version of the USMNT were glossed over in Seattle. What is most read is that they have not progressed even a little, but what was very interesting as they are approaching the end of their World Cup journey is that they have regressed, without much experience in the team or at the international level to give them the confidence needed to emerge, and no training or teaching from the best coach available for the job that can take them out of the newborn history.
Nearly a decade after this generation of players were handed the keys to the national team, boasting few of the USMNT’s most worthy talents, they have done little about it as a collective. Some of this is not surprising. The world’s top teams remain as talented as ever, and top-level opponents will soon beat them. Worryingly, they couldn’t even try to keep up with Belgium, a promise for years to do something special that didn’t materialize after a special moment of weeks.
Years of work have led the American team to the question that they have faced again and again about the mind, suspicions that are difficult to overcome. They failed to do well when the pressure was raised even a little bit, be it from the group stage of the Copa America two years ago, a lot of defeats in the Concacaf Nations League last year and finally on Monday against Belgium. The talent comparison is always at a high level, the fault of the players is more their own. It poses a very poignant question as the World Cup cycle draws to a close – even with another group of players on the rise, can the USMNT rise to any occasion they face, let alone a major one?
