U.S. Offense Fails Again in a 2-0 Loss in Belgium
The roller coaster ride the United States national soccer team has been on this year dipped to a new low Wednesday when the Americans were beaten, 2-0, by Belgium in Brussels.
The loss marked the third consecutive shutout for Coach Steve Sampson’s squad since it posted one of the biggest wins in U.S. soccer history.
After beating Brazil, 1-0, at the Coliseum in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup on Feb. 10, the U.S. has lost to Mexico, the Netherlands and now Belgium.
A goal in each half by midfielder Nico Van Kerckhoven gave the home team a relatively easy victory in front of 15,894 at King Baudouin Stadium.
The losses to Belgium and the Netherlands, by identical 2-0 scores, are particularly troubling for the U.S. team, whose three-first-round games at the World Cup in June include matches against European powers Germany and Yugoslavia.
Wednesday’s game came alive in the 23rd minute when Vankerckhoven broke loose on Belgium’s left flank, beat defender Mike Burns and fired the ball past U.S. goalkeeper Kasey Keller, who had come out to challenge.
“If I had to do it all over again, I would have held my line and made the save,” Keller said. “I was handcuffed. I was too close to him. He put it down by my feet and I just could not react in time. I got stuck between two decisions, and two wrongs don’t make a right.
“After their first goal, we had them. We were all over them. We had chances, but it just was not our day.”
The U.S. responded later in the half, but Alexi Lalas and Eric Wynalda could not finish scoring opportunities.
The Belgians took control in the second half when Vankerckhoven scored in the 59th minute. This time, he scored off the inside of the post on a rebound after Luc Nilis’ free kick had slammed against the crossbar.
The Belgians kept up the pressure. In the 64th minute, Emanuel Karagiannis, seeing Keller out of his net, attempted a high lob that sailed just over the crossbar.
The Americans’ best scoring chance in the second half came in the 79th minute when Brian McBride, who had come on in place of Wynalda in the 64th minute, trapped the ball on his chest in front of the net but could not force it past Belgian keeper Filip de Wilde.
“At times, we played some outstanding soccer, especially given the physical state of these players,” Sampson said. “The quality of our attacks has improved dramatically, but we also have to improve on our defense.
“I think we proved that we are as good if not better than the Belgians, especially if we are fully rested.”
The defeat leaves the American team with a 4-3 record at the end of seven weeks of training camp, travel and games. The U.S. defeated Sweden, Cuba, Costa Rica and Brazil before the three losses.
“The time together has not been too long at all,” captain John Harkes said. “We have to test ourselves like this because we could be together this long come World Cup.
“It was a lot of games and a lot of travel. It put us under different conditions that we were not used to. We were very fatigued mentally and physically, so I think it tested us in the right way.”
The next U.S. game is against Paraguay at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego on March 14.
In another game involving two World Cup ’98 teams, France salvaged a 3-3 tie with Norway in Marseille.
