There are four teams left in the World Cup.

A tournament of surprises, shockers, controversies, blown refs calls, and strong responses from coaches and players going home.

As France meets Spain, and England goes against Argentina, the topic of conversation here at home, ‘why not us’ or ‘what happened USA’?

So much expected…so little delivered.  And now alot of reaction-response.  Some directed at Coach Maurichio Pochettino, who is out of contract now.  Even more directed at Captain America-Christian Pulisic.  Some at the goaltender Matt Freese.  And maybe, big picture, shots directed at the USSF.

The 4-1 knockout round loss to Belgium was gut wrenching.  From start to finish, it just was not the same USA team.  So different from the side that had taken out Bosnia.  Very different from the crew that stormed to the top in Group Play, to earn a berth in the Round of 32.

My first glance thought was, USA fans should be pleased at the growth of the team program.  The arrival of so many young players, who gained so much experience abroad and brought their talents home to go get wins.

But as the days passed, with further introspection, the disappointment grew, leading to the question, are we closer as a country to being very competitive, or are we still a long, long away from being what the elite teams are?

Pochettino taught the team to compete and to make adjustments when they hit bumpy patches in the qualifying games and in the knockout round, until the loss to Belgium.

Pulisic, the face and heart of this new-look US-side, dominated in one game, got hurt, came back, did not play well, and when last seen limping off the pitch, was dragging a ledger of 14-turnovers in a game he had to play well, did not play well, and has taken non-stop criticism since the morning after.

Fol Balogun became the hired gun in that lineup, his shot making ability, his fire, his speed.  But on the biggest day of his Red-White-Blue career, he had 1-shot in 79-minutes, and had to work around the week long harangue of his Red-Card sanction and all the political spin that happened after his ejection vs Bosnia.

A young defense caved in the game, unable to mark players around the box.  Belgium had 22-shots in the box, compared to only 12-for the Americans.  The young fullbacks, who had excelled early in the cup games, were overwhelmed by the physicality of the attackers, the laser like passing and the movement that left the American goalie exposed.  From corner kicks coverage, to failure to prevent rebound shots, it was a substandard outing.

Goalkeeper Matt Freese  made 2-great saves at the :52 and 2-minute mark, but was bombarded from that point on.  He was victimized by the failures in front of him.  His decision to leave the crease to venture 20-yards upfield for an errant pass was catastrophic, resulting in a goal, 3-1 lead, and the exit from the knockout round.  In a split second, hopes he could be the guy were dashed, and he became a goat.

The headlines nationwide were pretty caustic:

..Crushed..Failed..Reality

..A very bad day

..Mistakes = loss

..Out with a whimper

..Dream becomes a Nightmare

And the media landed heavily with opinions:

..Carli Lloyd..USA played scared

..Alexi Lalas..Worst time to play your worst game

..Tim Howard..Be proud but be ready from this learning experience

..Landon Donovan..People are fed up with Pulisic

..Eric Wynalda..MLS has failed to provide us enough players

..ESPN..Only time Pulisic starred was standing alongside Messi in TV commercials

..Sports Illustrated..Regardless of the coach-Players aren’t good enough

..USA TODAY..Need more than 45-minutes play from Pulisic

..Associated Press..Big star-Pulisic-played small.

Pochettino was blunt honest:

..We didn’t connect with the game

..Proud we kept believing

..Disappointed in the politics and interventions.

Pulisic, who had two microfractures of his foot:

..It’s a start for us

..It just wasn’t good enough

Fo Balogun was downcast:

..We let you down

..Hurts to wait 4-more years to play again.

The TV ratings were a bonanza…(26M) for the Bosnia win…(30M) for the loss to Belgium.

Big games to be played this week, but big disappointment too.

How do USA soccer fans feel?  Excited for the future?  Letdown by what we just saw?

Did Team USA meet the expectations?  Fail to challenge at the most important moment?

Corner kick me an opinion.  

Loved the games, the electricity in the stadiums, the color, the pageantry.  But I feel lost there wasn’t more.

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