The U.S. men’s national team has been eliminated from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after a well-fought 3-1 loss to the Netherlands on Saturday in the round of 16.
The U.S. missed a golden chance in the opening minutes to take the lead, found itself down 2-0 at the half and could not rally in the second half as defensive woes did the team in.
Memphis Depay, Daley Blind and Denzel Dumfries each scored for the Dutch as Dumfries also assisted the other two goals. All the goals were marked by slow reactions and coverage by the midfield or defenders.
Haji Wright was the lone goal scorer for the Americans, seeing what was a poor touch on the ball ultimately find its way into the goal in what was a strange moment.
“This is a difficult one to handle. It’s such a good group of guys, such a close group of guys, and we came up short today, but not for the lack of trying or the lack of effort. They poured everything they had into this game and unfortunately we lost it,” USA coach Gregg Berhalter told Fox after the game.
“I’m really proud. When you think about this group and how they have come together over the last three-and-a-half years, it’s really special to see. You don’t often get a bond like that between teammates and the staff and everyone. I’m really proud of this group but bitterly disappointed at the result tonight.
“I think we made some progress. When people look at our team, they see a clear identity, they see guys that go out and fight for each other, they see talent on the field. We made progress but on this particular night we came up short.”
This run ends what was over an eight-year wait for the U.S. to get back to a World Cup on the men’s side following the failure to qualify for the 2018 edition. The U.S. finished the tournament with a win, two draws and a loss.
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