There is no polite way to put this: the U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) got its butts kicked Monday night.
What began as an historic opportunity to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time in 22 years – bolstered by the shocking red card suspension of star striker Folarin Balogun – ended in complete disaster as a Belgian squad that didn’t even start their best players until the second half completely dominated and made the U.S. squad look like failed American teams of the past.
It didn’t take long either.
A horrific defensive sequence in which three American defenders made no effort whatsoever to clear a ball in the box led to a Belgian goal within the first ten minutes. The U.S. managed to tie it up with a set-piece goal from Malik Tillman but then gave up another goal only 61 seconds later.
Christian Pulisic was terrible, losing possession of the ball 11 times. Sergine Dest was replaced at halftime due ot being completely ineffective. And Folarin Balogun, whose liberation from a FIFA red card sparked an international firestorm, never threatened to score even once.
U.S. fans, fresh from 36 hours of intense internet battles with angry Europeans over Balogun’s red-card suspension, found their former exuberance and excitement dashed, as they took to X to vent their frustrations.
The U.S. men will have a lot of soul-searching to do after Monday night. Head coach Mauricio Pochettino will no doubt take much of the blame. However, coaching does not account for the mind-numbingly poor play by his players that led to at least two of the four goals they gave up.
In any event, it’s going to be a long four years.