Disappointment quickly turned to anger on Monday night as USA fans turned on the players and slammed their ‘pathetic’ World Cup exit at the hands of Belgium.
The woeful Americans conceded four goals in front of a sold-out Seattle crowd to end their adventure, falling well below what fans had hoped from the Round of 16 game.
Almost as soon as the final whistle had blown, fans took to social media to slam the team’s performance, with one writing: ‘Embarrassing result. Optimist in me wants to hope there was enough positive in this World Cup to help the sport here in the U.S. Either way, gross way to go out.’
Another posted: ‘The team didn’t get off the bus tonight. 11 guys (with moments of exceptions from about 3 of them) who could not handle the moment in any capacity whatsoever. Pathetic effort.’
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Barstool Sports supremo Dave Portnoy was at the heart of the discourse and he made his feelings clear in a series of X posts.
‘I don’t want to hear that the future is bright for American soccer,’ he wrote in one. ‘That they should be proud. That was a disgusting effort. We’re far closer to the bottom than the top. Just not a soccer country.’
Fans gathered at watch parties around the country but were left devastated by the result
Mauricio Pochettino led the team to a worrying 4-1 loss to Belgium to mark the end of the road
In another post, he added: ‘Embarrassing effort from the United States. Lights were way too bright for US soccer team. Stage way too big. If we’re gonna keep creating international incidents over soccer it may be time to institute a soccer draft.’
In a third post, amid a stream of consciousness on the social media app, he referred to the team as a ‘clown show’.
In the game, Charles De Ketelaere scored twice for the European giants, before a woeful goalkeeping error from Matt Freese allowed Hans Vanaken to add a third – and in injury time, Romelu Lukaku compounded the Americans’ misery with a fourth goal.
The humbling loss marked the end of the road for Mauricio Pochettino and his US team at the Round of 16 stage, with question marks now surrounding whether the $6 million-a-year coach will continue in his role.
He is approaching the end of his contract, but revealed on Monday night that he has not yet decided what comes next.
‘I think now, because we were talking with the Federation, it is [time] to rest a little bit, to have conversations and see what the decision is from the Federation and from us,’ he said after watching his team crash out of the World Cup.
Star defender Chris Richards reacts at the full-time whistle, as negativity poured in online
Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku (right) celebrates after scoring Belgium’s FOURTH of the game
‘But I’m so happy, we built a very good relationship. Now is not the moment to talk about that.’
On the FOX broadcast, meanwhile, the likes of Alexi Lalas and Carli Lloyd were also tasked with picking through the bones of the defeat, and the latter in particular made sure to not pull any punches.
The US soccer legend, who is a two-time World Cup winner herself, said of the men’s team: ‘I just felt like they lost the game before they even stepped out onto the pitch.
‘I’m not sure why, and I don’t know the reasons, but from the beginning, just chasing, tentative. Scared, just not confident on the ball and I think big-time players – you wanted some of those big-time players to step up in big moments.’
Dave Portnoy, who has become a diehard US fan during the tournament, called them ‘pathetic’
Alexi Lalas said he believes the USA team ‘left something on the table’ at the World Cup
She went on to pick out Christian Pulisic, saying of the AC Milan superstar: ‘I think, whether he wants to be the star of this team or not, we didn’t see enough from him in this particular game. And really the whole World Cup. Little glimpses here and there.’
Lalas, meanwhile, said he will look back on the tournament believing that the United States ‘left something on the table’.
‘There’s a part of me that says the time for moral victories is over,’ Lalas said on FOX’s postgame show. ‘We’ve left something on the table here, and that to me is disappointing.
‘I also know that it’s going to be disappointing to the players and to Mauricio Pochettino when they look at this game.
‘The goals that they gave up at times were self-inflicted against a better team, but this US team has beaten better teams in the past.’
