NEWYou can now listen to PK Press Club articles!
Even though it’s playing a World Cup on home soil, the round of 16 remains a major obstacle for the United States men’s soccer team — and former U.S. player Stu Holden can’t help but feel disappointed following their latest shortcoming.
While the United States was outscored by Belgium 4-1 on Monday, Holden didn’t hesitate to share his disappointment with the team’s performance.
“It’s a familiar feeling. We’ve been here before. I think that’s the most daunting part of all of this because we’re caught up in the moment,” Holden said on FOX Sports’ “World Cup Now.”
“We’re becoming big fans of this team, the way they play, their personality, their history. We’ve seen a lot of these guys play through the MLS academies. There’s a lot of good players there, and we want so much more for them. I wanted nothing more for these guys than to win.”
Even though Belgium dominated the United States in the round of 16, there were plenty of reasons to think differently about this U.S. team compared to some of the others that have reached the round of 16 in recent World Cups.
The United States has won three of its four matches, the most wins ever in a single World Cup. In the United States’ only defeat, they largely played their substitutes in a match that counts for nothing in the final group standings.
The U.S. team also proved it can play through adversity. In the round of 16, the United States doubled its lead over Bosnia and Herzegovina after star striker Folarin Balogun received a red card.
But despite all this momentum, the United States collapsed on Monday. Three of the four goals allowed came after turning the ball over in his own lower third. The second of those three showed a clear sign of hesitation from Team USA, with goalkeeper Matt Freese freezing as he tried to clear the ball. This allowed Belgium to steal the ball and score.
Plays like those led Holden to believe the spotlight was too bright for Team USA.
“I know the referendum that’s going to be written on this group of players, and we’re going to sit here and dissect what was a disappointing night,” Holden said. “They shot themselves in the foot too many times. But again, the moment is too important to a lot of these players and how they felt.”
“It’s going to change over time, but I think that’s the only way to explain it. The guys were doing things that were uncharacteristic of their usual activities and what we saw in this tournament. I thought they could have done it. But when you make those mistakes, the deflation – they just didn’t look like themselves tonight.”
Among the players Holden deemed disappointed on Monday night was star American midfielder Christian Pulisic.
“We just didn’t have any big games from our big players tonight. Pulisic had a really tough night, a really tough night,” Holden said. “Even from the first minute of the game…Pulisic’s first five touches, three of which were turnovers. It looked like the moment was too big for him. I thought it was going to be a big game for him, and it just wasn’t.”
While FOX Sports soccer analyst and former star player for the U.S. men’s soccer team Mo Edu gave Pulisic a 6.5 for his performance, he was statistically disappointed. Only two of his six dribbles were successful, as he also won only 25% of his duels on the ground. On top of that, the only corner taken by Pulisic went directly to a Belgian player.
Pulisic was eventually substituted in the 59th minute after moving cautiously following a difficult tackle moments earlier.
But between Pulisic’s play and his self-inflicted mistakes, Holden thought the U.S. could have played better than it did and gave Belgium a good shot.
“That’s what’s hard to tell people here right now is that these guys are really good and they can play with the Belgian team,” Holden said. “We’re not crazy to think they could have beaten this team. But tonight we weren’t there, and it’s a harsh reminder that at this level, these are guys who play high-level games all the time. And they don’t let you make mistakes and get away with it. We got punished. We were just too naive.”
Ultimately, matches like Monday’s add even more fodder to the narrative that the United States still has a way to go to be considered among the best teams in the world.
Although the United States won three of its first four matches, all three of the United States’ victories came against teams ranked outside the top 25 in the final FIFA rankings heading into the World Cup. Belgium, for its part, ranks ninth.
So while the United States men’s national team still seeks to reach the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 2002, Holden understands those who might believe this group has fallen short.
“Unfortunately, we are who we thought we would be. We said coming into this tournament that we hoped we could make the quarterfinals. We could have. But we said the round of 16 was probably the realistic expectation.”
