The most depressing thing about loving soccer in the USA is seeing the pattern of everyone not care, then misunderstand, then get hype, then clown on soccer once the USMNT lose, then just move on.
Repeat every 4 years.
People will think I'm crazy for this take, but I'm a big believer in the psychological impact of narratives on teams. Yes, Belgium looked so much better tonight and we looked lost. But this team had a boatload of good vibes behind them, and in the last 48 hours that vanished, and replacing it was a story of implicit political corruption that turned them into the bad guys, or at least the beneficiary of the corruption. You can't tell me that doesn't put pressure on the team, change the vibe, and take a psychological toll that impacted what happened on the field. American fans, serious and casual, should be pissed at this interference. We overturned a red card and our reward was losing what made this team so much fun until now.
#USMNT going out in the Round of 16 once again. Pochettino was supposed to change this. This “golden generation” was supposed to change this. Hosting the WC was supposed to change this.
Same old, same old.