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Even though he played in a World Cup at home, the round of 16 remains a major hurdle for the US men’s soccer team, and former American player Stu Holden can’t help but feel disappointed after his most recent shortcoming.
When the United States was outscored by Belgium 4-1 on Monday, Holden was direct in sharing his disappointment with the team’s performance.
“It’s a familiar feeling. We’ve been here before. I think that’s the most discouraging part of this because we got caught up in the moment,” Holden said on FOX Sports’ “World Cup Now.”
“We became big fans of this team, the way they played, their personalities, their stories. We’ve seen a lot of these guys come up through the MLS academies. There are a lot of good players out there and we want a lot more for them. I wanted nothing more for these guys than to win.”
Although Belgium dominated the United States in the round of 16, there was every reason to feel differently about this American team than some of the others that reached the round of 16 in recent World Cups.
The United States won three of its four matches, the most it had won in a single World Cup. In the United States’ only loss, they played largely with their reserves in a game that counted for nothing in the final group standings.
The American team also showed that it could overcome adversity. In the round of 32, the United States doubled its lead over Bosnia and Herzegovina after star striker Folarin Balogun received a red card.
But even with all that momentum, the United States fell flat on its face on Monday. Three of the four goals he allowed came after turning the ball over in his own bottom third. The second of those three showed a clear sign of hesitation on the part of the American team, with goalkeeper Matt Freese frozen as he attempted to clear the ball. That allowed Belgium to steal the ball and score.
Plays like that made Holden believe the spotlight was too bright for the American team.
“I know the referendum will be written on this group of players, and we will sit here and analyze what was a disappointing night,” Holden said. “They shot themselves in the foot too many times. But again, the moment is too big for a lot of these players and how they feel.”
“That will change over time, but I think that’s the only way to explain it. Guys were doing things that were uncharacteristic of their normal activities and what we’ve seen in this tournament. I thought they could have done it. But when you make those mistakes, the deflation, they just didn’t look like themselves tonight.”
Among the players Holden deemed disappointing on Monday night was American star midfielder Christian Pulisic.
“We just didn’t have great games from our great players tonight. Pulisic had a really tough night, a really tough night,” Holden said. “Even from the first minute of the game… Pulisic’s first five touches, three of them were turnovers. It seemed like the moment was too big for him. I thought this was going to be a big game for him, and it just wasn’t.”
While FOX Sports soccer analyst and former US Men’s Soccer standout Mo Edu gave Pulisic a 6.5 rating for his performance, statistically it was disappointing. Only two of his six dribbles were successful, as he also won only 25% of his duels on the ground. Furthermore, the only corner kick that Pulisic took was directly at a Belgian player.
Pulisic was finally substituted in the 59th minute after moving cautiously following a tough challenge moments earlier.
But between Pulisic’s play and self-inflicted mistakes, Holden thought the United States could have played better than they did and gave Belgium a run for their money.
“That’s what’s hard to sit here and tell people right now: These guys are really good and they can play for that Belgium team,” Holden said. “We’re not crazy to think they could have beaten that team. But tonight was a night where we didn’t show up, and it’s a harsh reminder that at this level, these are guys who play high-level games all the time. And they don’t let you make mistakes and get away with it. We were punished. We were too naive.”
Ultimately, games like Monday’s add more material to the narrative that the United States has a long way to go to be considered among the best teams in the world.
Although they won three of their first four games, all three of the United States’ victories came against teams ranked outside the top 25 in the final FIFA rankings before the World Cup. Belgium, for its part, occupies ninth place.
So while the U.S. men’s national team is still looking to reach the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 2002, Holden understands those who might believe this group underperformed.
“Unfortunately, we are who we thought we were. We said coming into this tournament that we hoped we could make it to the quarterfinals. We could have done that. But we said the round of 16 was probably the realistic expectation.”
