By Sam Tobin
SEATTLE, July 6 (Reuters) – The United States’ World Cup dreams came to a crashing halt in the last 16 against Belgium on Monday as Charles De Ketelaere scored twice in a 4-1 win overshadowed by FIFA’s controversial decision to suspend U.S. forward Folarin Balogun’s ban.
De Ketelaere gave Belgium the lead in the ninth minute with a simple tap-in, taking full advantage of a nervous start by the U.S. to quickly deflate the partisan crowd.
Malik Tillman equalised in the 31st minute with a deflected free kick which wrong-footed Thibaut Courtois, but De Ketelaere restored Belgium’s lead little more than a minute later with a back-post header.
“From the beginning, we didn’t connect with the game,” U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said. “Even when we scored the goal, 1-1, we conceded in the next action.”
The U.S. played with more authority after the break until a calamitous error from goalkeeper Matt Freese allowed substitute Hans Vanaken to score in the 57th minute, irreversibly shifting the momentum in a stunned Seattle Stadium.
Romelu Lukaku then added a fourth in added time to send U.S. fans streaming for the exits and Belgium into the quarter-finals for the third time in the last four World Cups. They will play European champions Spain in Los Angeles on Friday.
The U.S. defeat means all three co-hosts are out of the tournament, after Canada and Mexico lost their last-16 games.
“In the moments that we were doing well (in the tournament), we felt amazing,” U.S. midfielder Tyler Adams said.
“And then obviously, an opportunity like today, we didn’t grasp it – and it’s gonna sting.”
BALOGUN LACKS IMPACT FOR U.S.
The build-up was dominated by U.S. President Donald Trump’s unprecedented intervention before Balogun’s one-match ban for a red card against Bosnia and Herzegovina was suspended, but the 25-year-old could barely get into the game.
“I think there was always justice somewhere in life and the fact that something can happen like that, you can put it all you want, but we don’t think that was fair,” Nicolas Raskin said. “And today, I think it just brings us a little bit of luck.”
The U.S. struggled with Belgium’s intensity from the start and, with the crowd still going through their first chant of “U-S-A!”, Timothy Castagne forced Freese into a fingertip save.
Youri Tielemans fluffed an early chance but the U.S. did not learn their lesson and De Ketelaere tapped home Raskin’s cross after the hosts failed to clear their lines.
The U.S. looked stunned and were grateful for the hydration break, levelling shortly after the resumption when Balogun won a free kick in a dangerous position.
Tillman’s effort took a wicked deflection off the forehead of Vanaken, an early substitute for the injured Amadou Onana, which gave Courtois no chance.
But the U.S. swiftly conceded another cheap goal, with Leandro Trossard standing up a simple cross for De Ketelaere and any hopes of a comeback were shattered when Freese dawdled on the ball out of his goal and gave Vanaken an open goal.
The game had long since petered out when Lukaku bagged his seventh career World Cup goal and 93rd for Belgium with a cool finish, 12 years after he scored against the U.S. in another last-16 victory.
Adams was left to rue the fact that the U.S., who had been riding a wave of public optimism, produced their worst performance of the finals at the worst possible time.
“Let’s not get it twisted, I think the better team won today… that being said, I don’t think we can take away what we accomplished in the rest of the tournament,” he said.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Atlanta; Editing by Toby Davis and Christian Radnedge)
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