The US Men’s National Team entered Monday night’s game against Belgium in Seattle with the highest expectations of any U.S. World Cup team in decades.
They had a mostly “golden generation” of players in their peaks, like Weston McKennie, Christian Pulisic, Malik Tillman, and Sergino Dest. Folarin Balogun, arguably the best striker the US has had in recent memory, was also available for the must-win match after FIFA controversially postponed his red card suspension with some involvement from President Donald Trump.
Belgium was widely viewed as a “beatable” opponent. They’d trailed Senegal 2-0 in the 86th minute in the round of 32, before a ferocious, fortunate comeback led to a 3-2 victory deep in extra time after a questionable penalty allowed Youri Tielemans to slot home the winner. Their defense was seen as questionable, at best, and their “golden generation” had aged past their primes. Star forward Jeremy Doku was also out of the starting 11, seemingly giving the US back line an advantage.
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As it turns out, not only did the USMNT not have an advantage, they were hopelessly outplayed and outclassed by an organized, composed, aggressive Belgian attack. They created few good chances, facing a much better defensive structure without Kevin De Bruyne on the pitch. After tying the match on another fantastic free kick from Tillman, they conceded again in less than 70 seconds. There was a humiliating goalkeeper error when Matt Freese kicked the ground instead of the ball, leading to the third goal that effectively put the match away. 4-1 defeat, and little to show for it.
All that might be more forgivable, after all, Belgium is still a very good international team, if the USMNT had a clean match and were simply beaten by a better team. But they didn’t just get beaten. They embarrassed themselves on the biggest stage they’ve ever had. Literally. And soccer analyst Taylor Twellman went off on the players and staff for the many, many, inexcusable mistakes.
He discussed what happened with Yahoo Sports! “The Cooligans” podcast after the loss, saying the team failed their first “real test.”
“That was the first real test of the World Cup,” he said. “What’d we get? Yeah, I mean, what’d we get?
“And listen, we’ve done stuff, right? We did stuff…[but] you can’t make mistakes at the highest level. You can’t miss fundamentals. The first two goals from Belgium. They make you want to…it’s not an easy watch guys. That’s not an easy watch…That’s a 50-50 ball inside the 18 that Dest just looks around, lets it bounce. Run through it.”
He continued, saying that he’d rather have players ready to “run through the wall” instead of being passive or unsure of themselves.
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“And listen, everyone on social media talks about, oh, Sebastian Berhalter this…Give me 10 Sebastian Berhalters,” he said. “They’ll run through the wall, at least. You cannot forget fundamentals. The little things, that is gonna be, for that group of players, the most difficult pill to swallow. Because when you watch the tape, when you watch, the tape, it’s not my experience, I watched it, that’s a difficult one to swallow. Those are simple fundamentals and we missed all of them tonight. All of them.”
Not much to argue with there. Just look at the lack of defensive effort on Belgium’s first goal, in the 10th minute. When the ball goes into the air, there are literally four US players around one Belgian player. Plus three more defenders nearby or in front of the goal. Somehow, that one Belgian player got by all of them, before threading a pass into an unmarked Charles De Ketelaere for the easiest shot of his life.
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Freese’s error was compounded by Ream jumping to try and deflect an open shot on goal by Hans Vanaken, only to mostly whiff and see the ball roll directly into the net. On the second goal, De Ketelaere just outjumped two US defenders, while two other stood around helplessly.
These are fundamental problems that cannot happen at this level. Inexcusable, indefensible mistakes. There’s a focus on managers and coaching in the international game, when managerial importance pales in comparison to having better players. Right now? The USMNT simply doesn’t have enough good ones.
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