Cape Verde, third-smallest country to ever reach the World Cup, smallest to make the knockout stages and one Americans can’t find on a map, came closer to reaching the round of 16 in its tournament debut than the U.S. Men’s National Team, despite facing Lionel Messi and defending champion Argentina.
That’s a reality check in the aftermath of Belgium 4, United States 1 in the round of 32.
Whatever the first five minutes of that match couldn’t convince you of, the other 85 minutes did. One team came focused and played to its potential. The other didn’t come close.
And there was no appealing the result.
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It says something that the U.S. entered the match as the favorite in at least some sports books. Maybe bettors were swayed by the reinstatement of forward Folarin Balogun, maybe it was wishful thinking, maybe both. Whatever it was, we need to grow up and try putting on our big-boy kit and our big-boy glasses.
Belgium was the first top-10 team we faced in this tournament and from the opening kick, there was no sign the Americans were ready for the challenge. Even after they managed to forge a 1-1 tie, Belgium scored a minute later to seize control right back. As if there were any doubt about the outcome, what announcers call a “howler” of a mistake by goalkeeper Matt Freese handed the Belgians another goal, and that was that.
Christian Pulisic disappeares during Belgium match
Where, among all this, was Christian Pulisic? The best player on the U.S. team is called “Captain America” even though defender Tim Ream again wore the captain’s armband. When Fox announcers and former U.S. internationals Alexi Lalas and Carli Lloyd seemingly called out Pulisic before the match, saying he’d yet to have his defining moment for this team, it seemed harsh.
“He is a reluctant star,” Lalas said. “He is not a big personality.”
Lloyd added that expectations had put “a bit of weight” on Pulisic’s shoulders.
“Big players step up in big moments and this is an opportunity for him to carve out his legacy,” she added.
Pulisic exited midway through the second half with an injury that could happen to anybody. It’s those first 59 minutes of invisibility that are concerning. Should U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino have flashed the bat signal or whatever it is that gets Captain America off his tush?
Look around at the big names in this tournament. Messi. Haaland. Kane. Mbappe. Pulisic is a different style of player, but no less important to his team than they are to theirs. If this USMNT is going anywhere, Pulisic must rise to the occasion.
If this sounds pessimistic, there’s an underlying reason, coming from someone who has seen this movie too many times. There’s practically a knee-jerk reaction at times like this to say wait until next … well, the next four years, when things will be different. We’ll be that much more skilled, more determined, more prepared to take that next step up.
How many times do we promise ourselves that before we realize it’s never that simple?
Korea/Japan 2002. The U.S. opened with a 3-2 victory over Portugal. We were on our way! Then we beat Mexico 2-0 in the round of 16, with much of the country waking up in the middle of the night to scream its lungs out. A 1-0 loss to Germany in the quarterfinals followed. But we were, you know, on our way.
Until Germany 2006. When we got dumped in the group stage.
For South Africa 2010, we reached the knockout round but immediately got knocked out again. Ghana 2, U.S. 1 in extra time.
Four years after that, those darned Belgians 2, USA 1. At least we qualified for that tournament, which is more than the 2018 team could say.
And four years ago, the Dutch kept the winless streak in knockout matches going.
It shouldn’t be lost on anyone that the defeat against the Dutch was in the framework of a question to U.S. midfielder Tyler Adams after the latest Belgium defeat.
“It feels exactly the same,” Adams said.
Balogun issue affected both US, Belgium
When FIFA revamped the format to increase the field from 32 teams to 48, it also added a round-of-32 knockout stage. It was assumed the group stages would be loaded with blowouts against the poor “minnows.” The traditional powers quickly found out that to reel in minnows such as Cape Verde’s “Blue Sharks,” they’d need bigger boats. The World (Cup) is getting smaller, and it’s up to us to keep up.
The difference between this U.S. team and the Belgian team isn’t as great as the 4-1 score indicates. The nagging feeling is that all the backroom maneuverings that got Balogun cleared affected both teams, distracting the U.S. while galvanizing the Belgians. If Belgium manager Rudi Garcia gave a team talk before kickoff, he wasted his breath.
Even if the Americans won, they would have faced a quarterfinal appointment with Spain and Lamine Yamal, a semifinal date with France or Morocco and a final vs. the survivor from the other half of the bracket. That’s three more matches against competition significantly better than anything they’d seen before. This is what it takes to win a World Cup — no off days allowed.
Look, there are building blocks in place, starting with Pochettino’s belief in his players and their belief in themselves. Can he and the U.S. Soccer Federation cultivate someone who scares opponents half as much as a Haaland or a Kane?
It was back when the tournament was opening that I first saw that Fox commercial we’ve all seen a hundred times, the one imagining what it’d be like to win the World Cup. The first time I saw that CNN-style chyron “USA WINS WORLD CUP,” I laughed. The second time, I did something I never expected: I allowed myself to wonder what that would feel like for real.
Almost heaven, that’s what.
Let’s go.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: What went wrong for USMNT? Belgium reveals hard truths about American soccer
Reporting by Hal Habib, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Hal Habib, Palm Beach Post | USA TODAY Network
