More than a week has passed since the joint-hosting United States bumbled through a stinging round-of-16 loss to Belgium in World Cup on July 2 in Seattle and the dust still hasn’t completely settled.
The U.S. run went from strong belief to utter disbelief in an instant, but the fallout has lingered as pundits stateside and abroad have lined up like a set piece to take harsh kicks at the Stars and Stripes team.
Belgium won the match 4–1, and U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino, the main offensive star Christian Pulisic, goalkeeper Matt Freese and striker Folarin Balogun have all absorbed the shrapnel from a disastrous result.
Some pundits have suggested Pochettino, who might’ve had the best kick of the game for the United States when he unloaded on the drink holder after Belgium scored its second goal, is suddenly under fire. Pochettino took a healthy swing at the innocent holder because, less than 1 minute after Malik Tillman cracked a free kick into the net from just outside the area in the 31st minute, Belgium’s Charles De Ketelaere netted for the second time in the match.
Pochettino, who played his cards right and had the team looking like a machine in the group stage, took criticism over the three-goal loss.
Reports said the 54-year-old has a base salary of about $6 million per year and is the third highest-paid international men’s manager. America wanted to see stars on the field as they earn their stripes in this global game. But they faded under the world’s brightest lights and there are questions about Pochettino keeping his job.
Separate from how Balogun ended up eligible and on the field, Pochettino’s men didn’t appear to be ready for the big moment. The man in charge didn’t seem to have them ready to fight as the last remaining joint-host team in the tournament.
He might have had them in do-or-die mode. Many experts had pumped up the United States team, saying this was the best squad the country had ever put together for a cup run. But it was the fourth time the U.S. has been bounced in the round of 16 over the past five World Cups.
Yes, the Stars and Stripes won three matches for the first time in team history. And, yes, the goal total of 10 was also a U.S. cup record.
But a clumsy clan of U.S. defenders stood around and watched as De Ketelaere thumped in Belgium’s second goal, and Freese chunking a clearing attempt and allowing Hans Vanaken to score from way out on an unthinkable misplay is enough to question Pochettino’s men.
The debacle came on home turf, where most host sides get the kind of emotional boost that creates miracle runs. However, the U.S. side seems to run the wrong way.
Meanwhile, news broke on Thursday that Pulisic had suffered a bone bruise and microfracture in his right leg in the loss, and that’s why he left the game in the second half.
Pulisic is expected to miss several weeks after what many think was the oft-injured forward’s final chance at winning the World Cup.
Former Stars and Stripes star Landon Donovan, who led the U.S. team to the quarterfinals at the 2002 World Cup, slammed Pulisic on his “Unfiltered Soccer” podcast with former goalie Tim Howard. Donovan, before news of the injury surfaced, unloaded on Pulisic’s play and his voluntary departure from the pitch.
“The reality is, he came out of a World Cup knockout game at home, with his leg still intact. Because you would have had to … drag me off the field,” Donovan said. “And I would have punched the doctor in the face and said, ‘You’re not taking me off the field. Put whatever you need to put in me, and I’m staying on the field.’”
Freese should plan to relive his nightmare via replays of his 57th-minute gaffe on a loop for decades across digital platforms and on social media. It was the kind of play youth soccer goalkeepers cry about at night.
Balogun, who got a last-day reprieve when FIFA officials allowed him to play in the match despite a red card that was supposed to keep him out, was a no-show on the scoring side.
Balogun netted three times in group play and had the opening goal in the round of 32, but was a nonfactor as the United States, 16th in FIFA’s world rankings, looked outmatched against the No. 8 Belgians. Even though Spain needed a late strike in the quarterfinal to take out Belgium 2–1 on Friday, the bumbling way the United States fell in its last game drew criticism.
It was just one of the many reasons that could explain why the United States didn’t make a deep run in the World Cup, despite seemingly everything set up for an American dream to come true.
But the truth is that soccer, no matter how much of a massive nationwide bump arose from the cup being held on U.S. soil, isn’t America’s game. And in the end, before the world, the United States didn’t play the beautiful game in a beautiful way.
