USMNT's thrashing by Belgium serves as reality check — 'To feel the pain sometimes is good'
ATLANTA — Mauricio Pochettino and his trounced players tried dearly to accentuate the positive from the 5-2 U. S. defeat to Belgium on Saturday — a jarring scoreline 76 days before the World Cup opener.
Yes, the Americans were the better side for much of the first half. Yes, they led the ninth-ranked team in the world. Yes, because of several absences, they were able to try different things.
Yes, it’s better for such results to occur in an inconsequential friendly than at soccer’s pinnacle this summer. Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season But there was a resounding no to almost every other aspect of the performance before an announced crowd of 66,867 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. “Of course, 5-2 is always difficult to accept.
It's painful,” Pochettino said. “To feel the pain sometimes is good. ” Oh, they felt it.
After Belgium scored a fifth consecutive goal, boos echoed around the roofed stadium, which is among the 16 World Cup venues. The 15th-ranked Americans learned that, when they are not engaged and focused every moment against a superior side, they become vulnerable to such painful outcomes. “I think we can arrive with the wrong idea that we are so good, we are so handsome, we are so well-dressed and we are Americans,” Pochettino said.
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