The United States’ World Cup campaign was brought to a screeching halt in Seattle last night by a Belgian team that played as if it had extra motivation after the Folarin Balogun affair.The Red Devils, angered by FIFA’s decision to reinstate the U.S.
striker after he received a red card in the previous round, delighted in trolling their hosts during and after the match.Subscribe to read this story ad-freeGet unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Today, we’ll find out which final two teams make the quarterfinals.Will Lionel Messi have another indelible performance? Our NBC News team is live-blogging the games.
Don’t miss out! World Cup RecapThe U.S.kicked off its round of 16 match against Belgium in high spirits, boosted by the return of its top goal scorer at the tournament in Balogun.
But the 4-1 defeat that followed was a brutal reminder that it is still playing catch-up against the world’s elite teams.In truth, the U.S.spurned a golden opportunity to reach its first quarterfinals since the Landon Donovan team of 2002, facing a Belgian side that had struggled in the tournament so far and that had left three headline players — Kevin De Bruyne, Jeremy Doku and Romelu Lukaku — on the bench to start the game.Where was the verve from the previous matches? The U.S.
played like it was weighed down by the controversy over the suspension of Balogun’s red card.Belgium’s Charles De Ketelaere scored twice and assisted on another goal as the U.S.
defense crumbled.Goalkeeper Matt Freese had a game to forget.
Malik Tillman did score to make it 1-1 in the first half, but the Americans conceded a goal shortly after that.Hans Vanaken made it 3-1 in the 57th minute after Freese lost control of the ball.
Lukaku came off the bench and scored in stoppage time.It was his 93rd international goal, and he became the first player to score as a substitute in four different World Cup matches.Mauricio Pochettino, head coach of the United States, ...