The USMNT were woeful with and without the ball as they lost to a better organized Korea side – and improvement won’t be easy
Diego Luna inadvertently encapsulated it all, in the end. It was the 58th minute of the USMNT’s clash with South Korea on Saturday night and the Real Salt Lake midfielder decided he wanted to run. The Koreans were stroking the ball around their own 18-yard box, and while the rest of the U.S. dropped into a mid block, Luna went on an adventure.
He sprinted at every defender, tried to cut every passing lane, and then could only watch as his teammates didn’t follow. The whole sequence ended with a run through for Korea – which might have concluded with a goal had Sergino Dest not scampered back to cut off a slightly overhit pass.
That sequence summarized what was a confusing 90 minutes for the U.S. in their 2-0 loss to Son Heung-Min and South Korea. Nothing about it was outwardly bad. There could be no critiques of effort, desire or passion. Instead, their defeat was defined by a lack of cohesion for Mauricio Pochettino’s side. The team seemed to be doing five things at once, and none of them particularly well. It was too frantic at times, and too languid at others.
In short, one team looked immensely well-drilled, united by tactical principles. The other was a series of individual expressions that never quite coalesced. The result was a USMNT that was thoroughly outplayed – and, at least for the moment, looking short on ideas as their 2026 World Cup preparations ramp up.