US eliminated from World Cup after 3-1 loss to the Netherlands

AL RAYYAN, Qatar — As he went away, Christian Pulisic concealed his face with his hands. Kellyn Acosta, Weston McKennie, and Tyler Adams all came together to give each other a hug. Tim Weah, DeAndre Yedlin, and Sean Johnson removed their cleats and sat on the grass in the middle of the field in a tight circle.

Pulisic’s voice was barely audible above a whisper as he remarked, “It stings after a tough loss like that when we feel like we could have had more,” but he managed to say it nevertheless. “We don’t ever want to experience the same way again.”

On Saturday, in the round of 16, the United States was eliminated from the World Cup after suffering a loss to the Netherlands by the score of 3-1. While the Dutch extended their winning streak to 19 games and moved on to play Argentina in the quarterfinals, the United States of America reflected on how far they had come and how far they had fallen short.

Memphis Depay scored for the Dutch national team in the tenth minute, and Daley Blind scored in the stoppage time of the first half as a result of defensive miscues.

Pulisic’s cross hit the trailing foot of second-half replacement Haji Wright, and the ball popped over goalkeeper Andries Noppert and into the net in the 76th minute, giving the United States a new reason to have hope. After assisting on the first two goals, a player named Denzel Dumfries, who was named after the actor Denzel Washington, scored with a volley in the 81st minute.

Gregg Berhalter, who was the first person to both play for and coach the United States national team in a World Cup, argued that the American public need to be optimistic. If you look at how we wanted to play and how we actually played, you should have a positive impression.

Since 2002, the United States has not qualified for the quarterfinals, and in both 2010 and 2014, they were ousted in the first round of knockout competition.

Fans in Qatar celebrate the Netherlands’ victory over the United States, which allowed them to advance to the quarterfinals of the World Cup in Qatar. (CNN)

Yedlin was the sole returning player on a roster that had an average age of just over 25 years, making it the second-youngest in the competition after the United States failed to qualify for the 2018 tournament.

The 29-year-old defender claimed that now they know what it’s like to lose after putting so much into it, and the sense of defeat from the past can only drive success in the future. “Now they know that sensation of what it’s like to lose after putting so much into it,” he said.

Since 2002, the United States has failed to win any of its 12 matches against European teams at the World Cup. Additionally, the United States has only one victory and seven losses in the knockout rounds of the tournament since its inception in 1930.

According to McKennie, “This tournament has really restored a lot of belief and restored a lot of respect to United States soccer and to soccer in our country.” I believe that this demonstrates that we have the potential to become giants in the future. Even if we haven’t arrived at our destination quite yet, I get a strong feeling that we’re getting closer all the time.

Pulisic had a chance to put the United States on front in the third minute of play at the newly refurbished Khalifa International Stadium in front of a crowd of 44,846 people. McKennie was given another opportunity to score when he knocked a weak clearance back into the penalty area, but Noppert was able to block his attempt with his left thigh.

Pulisic stated, “When it happened, I believed I was way offside, but I still struck it, and he made a wonderful save.” “I hit it, and he made a good save.”

The Dutch gained the advantage after Cody Gakpo passed the ball to Dumfries in the right side of the field. After Adams failed to keep track of Depay as he ran into the penalty area, Dumfries one-timed a cross that Depay drove inside Matt Turner’s far post for the first goal scored against the United States during the run of play in the tournament.

The game went into the first minute of overtime, and Blind scored. After a throw-in, Dumfries got a cross around Adams, and Blind won the race to the ball at the penalty spot by beating a late-arriving Sergio Dest to it. This was Blind’s first goal for his country in eight years.

Wright came on as a substitute in the 67th minute and scored his second goal for his country with an unusual touch from three yards out, giving the United States new hope. However, Dumfries was able to score his sixth goal after a cross from Blind after Tim Ream and Antonee Robinson failed to mark him and he scored from six yards out.

Adams stated that “when you play a team with so much quality like that and you give them three or four opportunities, they’re going to put three or four away,” regardless of how many chances you give them. “We can show that we can hang with some of the top teams in the world, and that we can hang with some of the best players in the world, and that is a lot of growth for United States of America soccer,”

At first, the players didn’t want to leave the pitch because they wanted to spend more time with one another.

Yedlin stated that he was simply putting things into perspective and reflecting on the adventure. “I’d just like to offer my gratitude to the planet. After each practice and match, we make it a point to perform a technique called grounding. It merely serves to put into perspective what is to come, whether it be good or negative.

Others silently processed the loss without uttering a word.

Turner remarked that simply gazing around the locker area revealed a deafening lack of conversation. “We all want to create moments for people back at home to fall in love with the game, and unfortunately, tonight was not one of those nights.” “We all want to create moments for people back at home to fall in love with the game.”

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