As the United States men’s national team went into the Mercedes-Benz Stadium locker room tied 1-1 with Belgium, they felt buoyed by a largely successful 45 minutes against one of the world’s best teams.
Then, the second half started.
A wasted Christian Pulisic attempt was followed by an Amadou Onana goal to make it 2-1 in the 53rd minute. Just over six minutes later, a penalty converted by Belgium to make it 3-1.
By the time the final whistle blew on a 5-2 Belgium win, optimism gave way to reality. If the USMNT want to compete at a high level at the World Cup, let alone achieve Mauricio Pochettino’s dream of a semifinal in mid-July, there’s plenty to work on.
“For many moments of the game, I think we played with the rhythm and the speed that the game required,” the U.S. head coach said after the match. “The problem was to keep that intensity. In the moments that we were able to match the intensity of Belgium, I think we were even, or we were better.”
More of our coverage of USMNT vs. Belgium
Things did look even for much of the first half, with the U.S. finally breaking through on an Antonee Robinson corner kick that Weston McKennie touched home past Manchester United goalkeeper Senne Lammens to make it a 1-0 contest.
That seemed to awaken the Red Devils, who equalized in the 45th minute through a goal from Zeno Debast struck from outside the box.
It took them eight minutes to pull ahead for good, a chance that was created in part by Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku. After Doku was initially bottled up by Tim Weah, it didn’t take long before the 23-year-old showed why he’s one of the best in the world at his position, demonstrating his impressive ball control and shifty movement to expose the right side of the American defense.
A questionable penalty just before the hour mark put the match fully in favor of Belgium. VAR failed to show definitive proof that Tim Ream’s right hand had come into contact with the ball. As it was, there wasn’t anything clear and obvious to overturn the call before Charles De Ketelaere made it 3-1.
Though Pochettino didn’t agree with the call, Matt Turner noted that it wasn’t the reason why his team lost.
“I’m not here to criticize that, because if I’m saying that was the turning point that decided the game, I’d be wrong, because we have to be able to respond to calls that aren’t going to go our way,” the U.S. goalkeeper said.
It certainly didn’t look as though they responded. Turner’s frustration with his defense was on full display as Belgium opened up a 5-1 lead in the 82nd minute, the capper coming off Dodi Lukebakio’s second goal of the half after Sebastian Berhalter, a second-half substitute hoping to make a case to make the World Cup roster, poorly dealt with possession in his own box.
“It’s true that when we drop a little in our intensity, how you can confirm that is in too many actions we were in place, we had superiority, but we were not aggressive enough,” Pochettino said.
“I think that is a challenge, and it’s a good reality check for us, because now it’s a moment to feel this type of situation to improve.”
Ultimately, it was an opportunity missed to send a message that the U.S. can go toe-to-toe with some of the best countries in the world. The USMNT won’t be waiting long to chase away the bad memories of this one, though: Portugal, another tough opponent — even without Cristiano Ronaldo — looms on Tuesday.
“The approach was the plan before. (We’re) not going to change the approach because (of) the result that we got today,” Pochettino said. “We need to keep going with the plan, and that is not going to change because of the result today.”
“I want to win, first and foremost,” Turner said when asked what he wanted done differently on Tuesday. “I want the fans to leave this stadium looking at our team and saying, yeah, that’s the team that I can identify with.
“I think that’s probably the biggest disappointment with having this beautiful crowd here today and the energy was that fans were leaving this game disappointed, and we’re leaving the game disappointed. As players, you never want to leave anything out on the pitch. I think we all felt like we should have and could have done better today.”