ATLANTA (AP) — Belgium dressed down a U.S. team with big World Cup dreams.
The Americans allowed five consecutive goals during the downturn. Lost to the Red Devils 5-2 in a friendly match on Saturday night. According to Opta news agency, the United States had not lost by three points in a home game in which they scored the first goal since 1959, when they lost 8-1 to England.
“You can’t arrive with the false idea that you’re very good, you’re very handsome, you’re very well-dressed, you’re American,” said former Argentina national team defender and U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino. “Usually after a game, when our team wins, it’s because we were fighting, we were aggressive, we were intense, right? When that intensity went down, you saw it today.”
We are preparing to host world cup This summer, the United States 5 games undefeated and Message from manager Pochettino to his players They should have been able to win soccer’s top title for the first time.
Weston McKennie scored from a corner kick by Anthony Robinson in the 39th minute, giving the United States, ranked 15th in the world, the lead over the ninth-ranked team. But then the U.S. level fell behind.
“We didn’t protect our box well enough,” he said. matt turnerreturned to the U.S. goal for the first time since June. “That’s not for us. It’s unacceptable that we didn’t do everything we could to keep the ball out of the back of the net, because that’s when our tail should be up the most.”
For Belgium, Dodi Lukebakio scored two goals, while Zeno De Basto, Amadou Onana and Charles de Ketelaere each scored one goal. Patrick Agyeman scored in the 87th minute for the United States, which lost 20-6 and has now lost its seventh straight game against a European opponent.
Christian PulisicAmerica’s top player, failed to convert on several good scoring chances. He went scoreless in his last 12 games with AC Milan, extending his goal tally in the United States to seven games since November 2024.
“Obviously I’m disappointed. We have to end the chance,” Pulisic said. “Those are not easy chances, but in certain moments I certainly expect to do better.”
Last fall’s undefeated record included a win. Japan (currently 18th), Australia (27), paraguay (38) And Uruguay (17) Plus draw vs. ecuador (twenty three). The United States will play fifth-place Portugal on Tuesday in the final game before Pochettino announces his World Cup squad on May 26.
“We have to beat teams like this to have a chance to advance higher in the tournament,” Pulisic said.
Turner said watching this game reminded him. Lost to the Netherlands 3-1 As a result, the United States was eliminated in the Round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup. Belgium withstood US pressure early on and then increased its aggressiveness to a level that the US could no longer withstand.
“They’re a great reminder for us of the minimum standards of what that level is going to be and what we should expect from ourselves,” Turner said. “Credit to Belgium, but what went wrong tonight wasn’t just how good they were. We were also pretty poor in certain areas.”
Both teams were missing several regulars due to injury and illness. America was without Tyler Adams, Sergiño Dest and Chris Richards, while Belgium was without Romelu Lukaku, Leandro Trossard, Hans Vanaken and Thibaut Courtois.
Belgium coach Rudi Garcia said: “This team is better than the results.” “We had a bad start, but it was also because the U.S. was more aggressive than us.”
and Richards is absentthe United States started 38-year-old Tim Ream in central defense alongside Mark McKenzie.
There were no American defenders within five yards when De Basto scored the equalizing goal from about 30 yards in the 45th minute after Turner fended off Jeremy Doku’s first attempt. Onana put Belgium ahead in the 53rd with a shot through the center of the penalty area after a layback from Alexis Saelemaekers.
In the 59th minute, De Quetelaele converted a penalty after Thomas Meunier’s shot hit Riem’s left arm. In the 68th minute, Lukabakio spun around Max Alfsten to score, and in the 82nd minute, Timothy Castagne’s cross hit Sebastian Berhalter’s legs for an open shot.
Exasperated, Reem put her hands on her hips and looked up.
“In many of the actions we made, we had the advantage but we were not aggressive enough,” Pochettino said. “This is a good reality and reality check for us, because now is the time to feel and improve this kind of situation.”
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