All 3 hosts out in the R16

I was genuinely hoping one of them would kick on because it makes the tournament more fun and by the end it just felt a bit deflating watching the last one go out like that with no real spark and everyone online just piling on as usual
 
The worst thing about the USA is how much hype they carried into that game and then they served up that nonsense like it was acceptable, Ream looked cooked, Dest looked like he had no idea where he was, the keeper for that third one was a joke and the whole back line was in bits, and people will try and soften it by saying Belgium were good but that does not explain the complete lack of shape or fight, you cannot get dragged around like that in a knockout game and expect sympathy, the excuses about fatigue and pressure and all that are just papering over the fact that several players had absolute shockers and the team looked rattled from the moment it started going wrong
 
It is harsh to call the hosts a failure when all three reached the same stage and gave themselves a platform. Even so, the USA’s loss feels the most disappointing because they never really settled into the game and looked vulnerable whenever Belgium pressed them.
 
On paper this is still a decent tournament for the hosts because all three got to the round of 16 and that is not trivial, but the emotional reading is different when the last one goes out with such a flat performance. The USA were not just beaten, they were undone by poor organisation and a collapse in confidence, and that will stick with people far more than the others. It is the kind of night where you can almost hear the discourse building before the final whistle, everyone suddenly an expert, everyone ready to tear it apart, and honestly it is exhausting because the football itself already said enough. The tournament exposed the gap between hype and reality and now everyone is pretending they always knew, which is the most annoying part of all
 
I think you are underselling how well Canada and Mexico did. They were not spectacular, but they were not embarrassing either.
 
The annoying thing is that the USA had moments in the tournament where you could convince yourself they had something about them, but when the pressure actually came on it all just bled away and they looked like a side waiting for somebody else to solve it for them. Belgium did not need to be amazing, they just had to be organised and patient and the hosts folded into that, which is why people are reacting so strongly. It is not even about one bad result, it is about the whole mood of the performance, the body language, the way they got rattled and never really settled, and now everyone is going to turn that into a whole identity crisis for the programme and honestly fair enough because that was dreadful
 
Belgium just had too much control once the game opened up and the US couldnt keep their shape after going behind so the whole thing turned into a long night for them
 
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