San Francisco Frontiers - 'Flunked': US soccer seeks answers as World Cup dream shattered

The United States' defeat to Belgium in Seattle on Monday meant a second consecutive elimination in the round-of-16 by European opponents, after falling to the Netherlands in 2022.

It has raised the question of whether, for all the hype and investment and talk of belated progress in a long soccer-skeptical country, the US men's national team is really any further along.

"I think one year (ago) we were in a mess. Thinking today, in the way that we performed in that World Cup, I think we improved a lot," said manager Mauricio Pochettino, after the loss.

"But the problem? You improve, but sometimes you need to go little by little. It's not linear, that you are going to grow so quick."

While few would dispute the difficulty of making the US a soccer power overnight, it is a far cry from Pochettino's words before the tournament, when he repeatedly asked players and fans to dream, "Why not us?"

Those high hopes were borne out by the US group-stage performances, including a memorable opening 4-1 win over Paraguay, and a professional 2-0 dismissal of Bosnia-Herzegovina in the first knockout round.

But the campaign came dramatically undone against Belgium, a team the US has not beaten in seven attempts since the very first World Cup in 1930, and which also knocked out the Americans in the last-16 in 2014.

"It feels exactly the same when you get knocked out of a tournament. It doesn't feel great," said midfielder Tyler Adams, who captained the US in 2022.

"I think overall there were positives that we're going to take away from it, [but] it just doesn't feel like it matters."

- 'Flunked' -

Much of the reaction from US media to Monday's defeat has been eviscerating.

"This was an unprecedented opportunity for the USMNT, for these American players and for the sport. And they squandered it," wrote The Athletic's Henry Bushnell.

"They flunked the biggest test of their life."

"This wasn't enough. Not nearly. Not even close," wrote ESPN's Sam Borden.

Adding insult to injury, the US campaign went from a feelgood, have-a-go heroes to villains getting their come-uppance for much of the world, after President Donald Trump boasted of calling FIFA to demand Folarin Balogun's ban be lifted.

Players after the defeat denied it had impacted their focus or performance, but a bitter note was not difficult to detect.

"It had no impact. We've done a good job with this group of allowing outside noise to be outside noise," said a visibly crestfallen captain Tim Ream.

"It's one of those things -- that's the world we live in," said the 38-year-old, reflecting on what could have been.

- 'Potential' -

Despite the gloom, the US campaign until Monday did capture the nation like never before.

Some 30 million Americans watched the English-language broadcast of the Belgium game alone. Once Spanish-language viewers are added in, the record will easily dwarf any soccer game in US history.

Soccer's American boom was well in progress before the World Cup, with the sport eclipsing baseball by media rights value, and drawing billions in investment long before the tournament arrived.

But the US team's progress remains uncertain, with Pochettino so far stalling on signing a contract extension, amid links to various European club teams.

The US Soccer federation Tuesday said talks with the coach will continue "following a chance to rest and reflect," emphasizing "excitement about our potential."

The statement concluded by recognizing "the amount of work at all levels still required to achieve our ambition."

U.Campbell--SFF