US Soccer Is Out of the World Cup and It Hurts, But It’s Supposed to Hurt

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: July 1, 2014

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It hurts.

The United States is out of the World Cup in the round of 16 yet again, and it just…hurts.

My rocket-pop-clad seven-year-old cried when the final whistle blew. I'm not going to lie, I cried a little, too. The World Cup is a big deal, and losing is supposed to hurt. The more Americans that feel this way today, the better.

In some ways, this outcome hurts more than in 2010. Four years ago, the U.S. was lucky to get out of the group, and while it faced a team in Ghana that was probably more beatable on paper than this Belgian side, there was an air about the U.S. team in South Africa that felt like an ending, not a beginning.

If Jurgen Klinsmann has shown one thing during this World Cup run, it's that he has a vision for where U.S. Soccer is headed. This tournament felt like the beginning of something, and while that something will surely continue into the next cycle, that beginning is over. And that hurts to admit.



It also hurts because the longer the game against Belgium went with neither team scoring, the more it felt like something magical could happen for the United States.

Tim Howard was magical and, frankly, deserved better than a loss in this match.



I wrote before the match that Howard needed to be perfect for the U.S. to advance, and he nearly was, stopping 16 shots—Belgium had 38 attempts in all, per FIFA.com—which was the most saves in any World Cup match since the 1960s.

Despite letting in two extra-time goals, including the eventual match-winner to his former Everton teammate, Romelu Lukaku, Howard earned his second Man of the Match award this World Cup for a game the United States didn't even win.

It hurts for Howard, truly.



It hurts to think about the chances—few, admittedly—the United States had and the opportunities missed. When Chris Wondolowski put ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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