Lost In America - Daily World Cup Newsletter: Day 26: The Song Remains The Same
We've been here before. But also not. The nuance will get lost, because it always does.
Belgium 4 - 1 USA
It hurts more than it would have, and it would have really fucking stung anyway, because we all know what the narrative coming out of it will be. Because that narrative will be impossible to prove, it's also impossible to unprove, as stupid as that sounds. But that's sports, and more to the point, that's sports coverage. The US was distracted by the furor that erupted around it the past 36 hours, it ruined their prep, shifted their focus, piled on more pressure, blah blah blah. No player will admit to that, and even if they do, they'll be derided as being unfocused, probably by the same people who then 10 seconds later decry how distracted they were. It sucks even more because it really has nothing to do with them, and certainly isn't anything they generated.
It could just as easily be that every player came to realize that their whole tournament hinged on this one game. Win it, and the whole four years, as wild of a journey as they've been for a lot of them (and think about how many of these guys were in and out of the team, or brought into the team for the first time, or threatened with being left out of it) would be a success. No one would really care what happened in the quarterfinal. Lose it, and all that mentioned above is for naught. A waste. A failure. That's how much was riding on this for everyone associated with the USMNT.
A majority of this team is the same one that we saw in Qatar. Pulisic, Adams, McKennie, Ream, Robinson, Dest, Richards only missed out through injury four years ago, Reyna, they were the core four years ago and they were basically the core now. Which means they spent four years hearing about piercing the Round of 16 and getting to the quarterfinals was the only mark of success. It's not to absolve them. They needed to stand up to that. But building up that landmark into Godzilla could be just as big of a reason they were off as what will be pointed to by the masses.
Whatever the reason, they just FROZE. There really doesn't need to be a tactical or deep dive discussion about what happened, though Belgium certainly sprung a surprise or two. They benched some stalwarts. They just went over the US press and counted on winning the second balls in a empty US midfield. They regularly switched the ball from one side to the other and behind the advanced US wingbacks.
But it only worked so well because every US player, aside from Malik Tillman and maybe one or two others, played butt. Easy passes were missed. Simple touches looked like they were attempted with flubber. Decisions were terrible. Things were either in a rush, or they were too slow. No one was there to set the metronome. To be fair, the type of player who can set the metronome in any type of atmosphere is the hardest to come by. There's like six of 'em, and three are on Portugal, and even that didn't work out for them! The US were simply all over the place. They shrunk from the moment.
While the US was outplayed for sure, their deficit was simply down to individual mistakes. Which will make it sting more. Get opened up through brilliant football, simply can't catch up, everyone can take that, even if it sucks to watch. But the first goal is due to Freeman heading a ball back into his own box, which is a cardinal sin, and Sergino Dest reverting back to his ya-ha time worst. The second goal, which is an absolute killer that can't happen, is due to Dest treating defending...well, like Dest usually treats defending, but Freeman doesn't back him up properly. Which they could have gotten away with if Tim Ream doesn't get utterly horsed by a theater dork masquerading as a footballer, which is what De Ketelaere is. Hey, if Ream gets worked over by Lukaku, we get it. Dude may be washed, but he's built like a linebacker. But De Keteleaere? Dude.
The third goal...well, it's there for everyone to see. There were serious worries about the weaknesses of this team before the tournament. Ones the USMNT was able to shield against weaker opponents. One was a goalkeeper untested at this level. Failed that. One was Ream's age and mobility. It wasn't a problem until it was. The last was control and calm in midfield. That came home to roost, too, right when they needed it most.
There is something perfect about Christian Pulisic's tournament being one great half, getting hurt, one meaningless half, one decent game, and then one terrible half before getting hurt again. This is who he is. In two years at the Copa America, or in four years in Iberia, he just can't be the focus of this team. Maybe even can't be a starter. The PR campaign and buzz can't decide the lineup. He's America's own Neymar, at this point.
Before I go any further, a word on Belgium manager Rudi Garcia. There can't be a more clear illustration of what a real manager does than having Belgium and Portugal play on the same day in this World Cup. Garcia has watched Lukaku, De Bruyne, and Doku wheeze through four games, for various reasons. He knows he needs energy and mobility in a game against the hosts. There are no sacred cows to him, nothing he has to shy away from, because worst case, he's out of a job he'll probably be out of anyway in a week. So he sits them all.
Meanwhile. Roberto Martinez keeps tossing out Ronaldo, fearing the backlash, even though they need to counter at speed against Spain. He's going home, and likely to be without a job tomorrow. He'll be fired wondering. Garcia won't.
Right, circling back to the Yanks. There's more to cover about the future in the goodbyes, but this tournament will probably get lost for a while now. They still destroyed three teams, three not very good teams admittedly (though wouldn't Germany like to know how for one), but they've never done that before. They squeaked out a win and a draw against Iran and Wales four years ago. 12 years ago they squeaked out a win and a draw against Ghana and Portugal, admittedly better teams than the ones mentioned above.
This one PWND Paraguay, Australia, and Bosnia. It'll get lost, dismissed as meaningless, perhaps deservedly so, but it's what real teams do. It makes their freezing in this one all the more strange and all the more frustrating. They should have had swagger and pizzazz and belief. They had none of it. And the charlatans digging for takes will gobble up all the oxygen for the next little while, instead of real discussion.
I would love to take any level of solace from watching yet another thing Trump touches turn to shit. But there's no Game 4, as there was for the Knicks. He and his shithead supporters (however many of them are left) just walk away from it. You, and me, and anyone else who has spent a lifetime of watching and supporting the USMNT, we have to eat the shit for another four years. I get the satisfaction of watching karma in action, but the karma is only coming for those who had nothing to do with it.
That's me done discussing the ephemeral.
Spain 1 - 0 Portugal
It must be no less frustrating to be a Portugal supporter, to know you have the best midfield you're ever going to have, and still have to show up against your greatest rival and play for penalties because the attack is so blunted and your manager is a fraud who won't do anything about it.
Portugal got so much right. They left Nuno Mendes on an island with Lamine Yamal, and watched him nullify that unholy force. Felix and Neto worked hard as wingers to get back and support in defense, but they had no one whom could hold the ball up top, because that's not what Ronaldo does. Hence, Portugal couldn't get out from defending. They couldn't get in behind because...well, you know by now.
Then they fell asleep in injury time, they lost track of one run from deep from Merino, and out they go. Now that Ronaldo is retired, it would be hilarious (and kinda likely!) if they win Euro '28 in a walk. If they can find a true #9, at least. Or find another solution to get around that. What we do know is that Roberto Martinez is not the guy to figure out either one.
Day 27 Preview
Argentina vs. Egypt (12pm ET) - Either Cabo Verde exposed Argentina's vulnerabilities, or they just woke them up. We probably won't find out today, as Egypt are just so limited. They can't block and bunker, and they don't carry enough threat on the counter, unless Mo Salah finds a time machine. Egypt have already gone farther than ever before, and while that could be a platform to play with nothing to lose, the hunch is that it'll be a platform for we've-done-enough.
Switzerland vs. Colombia (4pm) - This one has potential to be a sneaky good time, if Switzerland want to go as direct at Colombia as Colombia will go at them. Through Vargas, Manzambi, Ndoye, and Embolo, they have an attacking foursome that is pretty spicy on the break and in space, and have wrecked both Canada's and Algeria's shit when they finally got around to assembling them. Colombia isn't going to sit back, so there should be space for them. But the Swiss defense isn't all that cut out to handle attacks at speed either, which Colombia has in abundance. Could get wild, as both teams hurl themselves at each other like a game of dodgeball where the players are the dodgeballs. Or the Swiss just try to nullify everything and hold on for one or two chances. We can't have anything.
Goodbyes
USA - Let's do this one first. It'll be important to remember, which almost no one will, that growth in international soccer is not linear. Look no further than the US going from not qualifying to the Round of 16 to the Round of 16 in three tournaments. The program was geared for THIS tournament. They turned over the whole squad after the failure of Couva, brought a team full of children to Qatar, with the idea of prepping them for the home World Cup. Pretty much everyone in the lineup throughout this tournament, save Ream, is in their prime. Only Alex Freeman is assured of looking ahead to very better days. We can maybe add Tillman to that list, as he's only 25. But his prime may come and go before the next World Cup. The core of this team will be in their 30s come Iberia '30.
Which may mean the US shows up to that tournament with a different version of the one that went to Qatar–a team full of kids being groomed for four years on. If the US is going to be a real ass team, it does have to spend the next four years finding younger players ready to yeet established players out of the lineup. Good news, there's already a handful ready to do just that. Diego Luna, Zavier Gozo, Cavan Sullivan, Adri Mehmeti, Chris Brady, these are names you need to know that could eject the likes of McKennie, Dest, Pulisic, Tillman, Adams, and Freese/Turner out of the starting lineup in the next four years. There will be others. This is how the top dogs work. No one's settled, and the next guy ready to take over any position should never be far away.
A few of the old heads will hang on, and they should. The ideal squad for a World Cup is some vets over 30, mostly guys between 23-27, and some kids. It's likely the US will be short on guys in the middle category come Iberia. But they should have plenty of the other two. Which should position the kids to be ready to take the mantle come Saudi Arabia '34.
But again, four years is a long time. Four years ago, Miles Robinson, Yunus Musah, Tim Weah looked like they would be linchpins for years to come. None of them are anywhere near the first 11 now. Bad transfers, bad injuries, inexplicable loss of form, just general goofiness can skew a player's progression into or with the national team. The opposite is true, too.
The only thing we know about international soccer is what's right in front of you. Which makes his exit sting so hard. It was there for them. They were playing the best football they ever had. They had the most swag they ever had. They had an opponent that had been mostly shit and looking for an excuse to chuck it. And when that was supposed to count the most, they went into vapor lock.
However that happened to these players, it should forfeit their automatic right to get to try again, be it in two years or four.
Portugal - What a waste. There is so much to like about this team, and it was all borked because they hired a manager who didn't want to make any hard decisions. He saw three midfielders who dominated the Premier League/Champions League behind a mobile and flexible front line with their clubs, and made no attempt to replicate it with the national team, out of fear from backlash from dropping a washed, detrimental national icon. As well as insisting upon the Ponzi scheme João Felix as well, too. If only to have such problems.
But the Portuguese will celebrate that Nations League title forever, right?