USA loses to Belgium, ending its World Cup runExBulletin

Charles De Ketelaere #17 of Belgium celebrates after scoring his team’s second goal in the World Cup round of 16 match against the United States on Monday in Seattle. Alex Grimm/Getty Images .

rock captionAlex Grimm/Getty Images

SEATTLE — This time it was supposed to be different.

The United States men’s national team arrived at this FIFA World Cup with a roster full of players playing key roles in Europe’s biggest leagues. They had the marquee coach – Mauricio Pochettino, of Tottenham, PSG and Chelsea fame. And they had home-field advantage, with every game on American soil for the first time in three decades.

For weeks, the hype seemed to be real: The team’s three victories against Paraguay, Australia and Bosnia-Herzegovina were the most ever by a U.S. men’s team in a World Cup. A new generation of American fans filled stadiums by the tens of thousands and watched television by the tens of millions.

But in the end, the Americans’ exit was the same as ever: once again eliminated in the round of 16 against a European team, this time Belgium, with a score of 4-1.

From the moment they took the field in Seattle, the United States was outclassed by their opponent, 9th-ranked Belgium. Countless turnovers and defensive errors were seized upon by the Belgians, who needed just nine minutes to take a 1-0 lead.

Then, once the Americans equalized on a free kick from midfielder Malik Tillman, Belgium scored again in barely a minute of play. Belgian striker Charles De Ketelaere scored both of his team’s goals in the first half.

After halftime, an embarrassing nail came in the coffin that silenced the sellout Seattle crowd for good – a 57th-minute roll-in by Hans Vanaken after an error by goalkeeper Matt Freese outside the penalty area left the goal unguarded. Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku then added a goal in stoppage time to seal the final score at 4-1.

Malik Tillman #17 of the United States celebrates his team’s only goal in their World Cup match against Belgium. In what was one of the few bright spots of the match, the United States tied Belgium at 1-1. The tie lasted less than two minutes before Belgium scored again. Luke Hales/Getty Images .

switch captionLuke Hales/Getty Images

“Today we didn’t show our true quality,” Pochettino said after the match. “It just hurts to be eliminated.”

“It stinks,” said American midfielder Tyler Adams. “Tonight it wasn’t a good performance overall. That’s not what we’re looking to achieve. [were] a lot of things we could have done better.”

The United States entered Monday’s match amid controversy surrounding its striker Folarin Balogun, who received a red card in last week’s round of 16 match against Bosnia-Herzegovina. An automatic one-match suspension was imposed on Balogun, the Americans’ leading scorer at the World Cup, for Monday’s match.

Then, the day before the match, a FIFA disciplinary committee took the highly unusual step of delaying Balogun’s suspension by a year to allow him to participate. Then news broke that President Trump had personally called FIFA President Gianni Infantino to encourage him to revisit the red card.

The Royal Belgian Football Federation said it would protest Balogun’s inclusion in the squad. But even at full strength, the United States was never a real contender in Monday’s match.

American defender and team captain Tim Ream said the controversy swirling around the team had had no impact. “We were completely focused on us as a group and as a team, fully focused on the game and not really worrying about what was being said or debated in the outside world.”

Belgium will advance to the quarter-finals for the third time in the last four World Cups, where they will face Spain on Friday in Los Angeles.

United States head coach Mauricio Pochettino walks down the sideline during the World Cup Round of 16 match between the United States and Belgium in Seattle on Monday. Carl Recine/Getty Images .

rock caption Carl Recine/Getty Images

NPR’s Russell Lewis contributed reporting

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