TC Martin

Team USA Advance to Round of 16  

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Coming into this World Cup not much was expected of the American team.  They were ranked a distant 17th in the world rankings, and they didn't show much in lead up matches over the past two years.  

 

Throw in a surprising coaching change when Gregg Berhalter was relieved of his duties on September 10, 2024 in favor of Argentinian, Mauricio Pochettino.  The change wasn't just about personnel it was also about changing the way they play as the two coaches had different tactical approaches.  Berhalter was teaching more possessional play and structure while Pochettino was hired to bring physicality and put pressure on opponents. 

 

Team USA was 6-4 in their games prior to the World Cup under Pochettino and there was plenty of doubt weather this team was capable against the upper echelon of the world.  The only saving grace was that they were playing on home soil and their bracket wasn't loaded with powerhouse teams.  

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The United States surprised Paraguay with a convincing 4-1 victory to open pool play and then shut out Australia 2-0 to get the American fan base hyped.  Having already cliched the top spot in the group, Team USA lost to Turkey 3-2 to squash a little momentum.  

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On to the knockout round, where they faced another team that was ranked lower than them Bosnia & Herzegovina proposed little challenge despite having the USA play the final 26 minutes without their top scorer, Folarin Balogun who was ejected from the game due to a controversial hard tackle.  Balogun scored the first goal of the game but now were forced to play with only 10 men.  The United State added a goal and hung on for the 2-0 victory to advance to the Round of 16.  

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Next up is Belgium who are ranked ninth.  The Red Devils, as they are called had to feverishly rally to get to the Round of 16 as they erased a 2-0 deficit against Senegal to win 3-2.  The U.S. is a slight underdog due to the fact they Balogun will miss the game due to the red card one game suspension and the United States have struggled against the top European countries. 

 

Team USA snapped a lopsided streak of 13 consecutive games without a win against European teams with their victory on Wednesday night.  Ironically enough the last win against a Euro team was in 2021 against Bosnia & Herzegovina.   

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Kickoff is at 5:00pm Pacific on Monday in Seattle which will be a wild scene in a soccer crazed city.  It will be the first match there for Team USA.  With a victory, the United States will move to the quarterfinals, a round they haven't reached in the World Cup since 2002.