The World Cup, at least as far as the USMNT is concerned, came to a screeching halt last Monday as the Yanks fell to Belgium 4-1, losing decisively to the Europeans. The match started about as poorly as one could imagine and it was downhill from there. Belgium scored after a poor Alex Freeman header and several US players, including Weston McKennie and Sergino Dest, failed to deal with a ball in the box.
The US managed to pull level midway through the first half after Malik Tillman hit a very nice freekick that took a fortunate deflection to find the back of the net but Belgium pulled ahead again just moments later, killing any change of momentum.
Sergino Dest was subbed off at halftime as Mauricio Pochettino looked to make a change but it did not do enough and Belgium would find a third in the 57th minute after an inexplicable mistake by Matt Freese who came out of the box, made it to the ball first but failed to clear the danger and Belgium took a shot on an open net. Shortly after Christian Pulisic became the second substitute of the night, removed from the match due to injury.
The fourth goal of the night was scored in the dying minutes after yet another defensive turnover led to a chance that Romelu Lukaku did not waste.
It was a rough, rough night for the US. There were many who were at fault and the match scores certainly reflect that. One player did rise to the top, and for a second straight match it was goal scoring Malik Tillman who was chosen as your SSFC Man of the Match. It was a low bar to clear but Tillman had one of the few legitimately positive matches for the night.
The full results are below, let us know what you think:
Sub – Sebastian Berhalter – 5.23
Sub – Ricardo Pepi – 3.83
Coach Mauricio Pochettino – 4.03
Do these ratings seem about right to you or what would you have changed? Let us know in the comments section below.