Another FIFA World Cup has passed, with another round of 16 exit from the United States men’s national team, against a familiar opponent in Belgium, which knocked it out of the tournament at the same stage in 2014.
Although this time it wasn’t an extra-time heartbreaker with a heroic â and historic â performance from an American goalkeeper; it was a 4-1 blowout on home turf at Dallas Stadium, with mistakes that will haunt fans and players alike until the next World Cup in 2030.
It wasn’t all bad. The United States won its most matches at a single edition of the tournament. Folarin Balogon emerged as the team’s star striker. And the country united around a team that forced them to believe. But Alexi Lalas believes the U.S. had even more to give.
“Anytime this happens, and I’ve been through this now a lot, the question is always, ‘Well, was this a success?’,” the U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer and FOX Sports analyst said postgame. “I think this team did bring people into the tentpole, and I think they should be incredibly proud for that.
“But there’s also a part of me that says the time for moral victories is over. So, we’ve left something on the table here, and that to me is disappointing.”
Belgium limited the U.S. to just seven total shots on Monday, which equaled the amount of shots on target Belgium had in the entire match. In total, Belgium had 15 shots, including 10 in the United States’ box.Â
“Congratulations have to go to this Belgium team, to come into this environment and put on a show like that,” Lalas said. “From a U.S. perspective, they picked the worst time to play their worst game. I think Mauricio Pochettino and the players would admit that.”
Lalas reiterated his exhaustion with moral victories, emphasizing that the flat finish remains a deeply disappointing missed opportunity.
“Look, I know that growth is not always linear,” Lalas said. “I think we’ve grown enough as a soccer nation where, we can be sick of moral victories. I’m sick of moral victories.”
The former USA star went on to acknowledge the loss will be water under the bridge by tomorrow.
“Just give me tonight to be disappointed and sick of moral victories. Tomorrow, I’ll be fine. I’ll move on. I’m still proud of these young men and I think we’re pushing this boulder up. It’s always been a labor of love. But it’s always been a labor. It’s gotten a little bit easier, but it’s still a labor.”
While the U.S. has shown the capacity to pull off major upsets in the past, they failed to find that spark against Belgium.Â
“I also know it’s going to be disappointing to the players and to Mauricio Pochettino when they look at this game, because the goals that they gave up at times were self-inflicted against a better team,” Lalas said. “But this U.S. team has beaten better teams in the past. It just didn’t happen here today.”
Lalas concluded that the round of 16 finish will not be easy to swallow given how well USA had performed leading up to the loss against Belgium.
“It’s going to be disappointing to go out, but also in the way it went out, which was more of a whimper than a roar we’ve seen in this tournament.”
