Belgium sends USA Men packing 4-1

The goal of every Country competing in the FIFA World Cup football tournament is to win - And to do so you must not only play well but also have luck on your side. The USA Men, ranked 17th in the world, did not play well and although they had several opportunities --luck was not on their side very long. Belgium ( ranked ninth in the world) ended the USA Mens dream with a crushing 4-1 defeat. Belgium plays Spain (1-0 winner over Portugal) on Friday in the Round of Eight in Los Angeles. Belgium wasted little time getting on the board as Charles De Ketelaere scored from close range after receiving a beautifully placed pass just 9 minutes in-

BELGIUM 1 -

0 The USA tied the contest 30 minutes in when Center Forward Malik Tillman's 34 foot penalty kick caromed off a Belgium players skull and eluded their goalie ( some luck there ) and ended up in the back of the net ---GOAL

USA -1 BELGIUM - 1 Thats when the luck ran out -- as Belgium's Charles De Ketelaere headed in another perfectly placed pass ( his second goal ) and Belgium went into halftime leading --

BELGIUM - 2 USA - 1

The USA had very few opportunities in the first half and with 5 minutes remaining in the half

had just 1 shot on goal compared to Belgium's 4 (8 shots total) --

Time of possession was nearly even. The 2nd half belonged to Belgium and and when USA Goalie Matt Freese made a poor decision to come too far out of the Goal Box and mis played a kick -- Belgiums Hans Vanken found the net attended and scored the 3rd goal for Belgium putting them up by 2.

BELGIUM - 3 USA - 1

In extra time Belgium Super Sub, veteran Romelu Lukaku added the cherry on top of the

victory scoring Belgium's 4th goal and stamping their ticket to the elite eight

Final score BELGIUM - 4 USA - 1

Dave's Dime --

USA Men's Center Forward Malik Tillman scored his 2nd goal of the Tournament on a Direct

free kick -- the last USA player to achieve that feat was Eric Wynalda vs Switzerland in 1094

Mauricio Pochettino was hired as head coach for team USA in 2024 -- he found success in

the top European soccer league in Argentina and coached the US boys into the Rd of 16 -- it

should be interesting to see how the program grows under his leadership. The players

should take notice of his excellent form when he planted his foot into a tray of water bottles

sending them flying after the US gave up the 2nd goal just 2 minutes after the game was

tied at 1 -- honestly that was my favorite kick of the entire game -- perfect form and those

bottles were air born -- I was on my feet and yelling

G O A L until my wife told me to knock it off and sit down -- Buzz kill

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