Herc Gomez on USMNT’s Painful Exit Against Belgium: Men in Blazers 07/07/26

0:00You're listening to the Men in Blazers Media Network, Suboptimal Radio. Poch kept saying, why not us? Why not us? The reality is, why never us? It's never us doing a Morocco. It's never us doing an Iceland. It's never us doing a Wales in the Euros. Why never us?

0:21Hello darkness, my old friend Another World Cup Another meat round of 16 exit Not going to lie, this one hurts Zombie performance in Seattle Smash by Belgium, 4-1 Reinstatement of Flo Balogun One of the greatest own goals in American soccer history From now on, the sound of country roads Will be tinged with a sense only of regret Of fleeting happy moments and another U.S. men's national team World Cup run over too soon. Kept screaming at the TV, not like this, not like this. But it was like this. And to break it down and ask the questions that need to be asked, it's good to welcome ESPN and Vamos Network on Men in Blazers' own.

1:02It's Mr. Hurt Gomez. Roger, how are you doing, my friend? Not good. Not going to lie. Not good at all. Simple question. Last night in Seattle, we went in with hope and we ended up having the Belgians Trump dance after banging their fourth past us. This was a generational cell phone. We've seen this US team soar in the group stage and last night they crashed to earth. Can you explain in one word, what was it why we couldn't save a shot, why we couldn't make a pass, why we couldn't cock a fist last night? Cosmic. And that could include karma, that could include what's in your future, that could include what you are.

1:38It's a combination of all these things, Raj. Let's dig in to that deeper. We have to start with our star, Christian Pulisic. They're in body, but not in foot or mind. 59 minutes, no goals, no assists, no chances created, no touches in the box. I think the most damning statistic is this one. 11 possessions lost. 11 just in the first 45 minutes. More than anybody else on the field. This is the man who skipped the Gold Cup so he could give his all for us in the World Cup. He left in the second half shortly after that third goal. What happened to him? You could put it up to Rudy Garcia and tactically how he pins the fullbacks, which enclosed, pinned Sergino Dest and pinned a Christian Pulisic back.

2:19So tactically, he made it very difficult for Christian Pulisic to operate in spaces he felt comfortable. And the possession loss, I'm okay with because you're an offensive player if you're trying to do things. But it didn't look like he was trying to do anything. It didn't look like the U.S. men's national team was trying to make something happen in the final third. And you're risk-rewarded. You lose the ball. Nothing happens. That's not what it looked like. There's a saying in Spanish. Se murieron de nada. You died of nothing. You didn't fall on your shield. And Raj, it's the way the U.S. goes out here.

2:50It's not a talent issue. In some levels, it is. In some levels, it is. But take a look at the goals. Serginio Destin I lets the ball bounce. Fundamental error. You cannot let the ball bounce inside the box. He gets lost. On the second, the same Sergino Desk gets torched. He and Alex Freeman, when Freeman tries to come and help him, get torched by Trossard. And then Tim Ream gets posterized by De Quetelet. These are fundamental errors here. So it's not a talent issue. It's an emotional issue. The moment was too big for you issue. I can't handle the pressure issue. The lights are bright and I'm not big enough issue.

3:26And for Pulisic, the agony is this was his peak World Cup. Left the first game injured, missed the second, came on as a substitute in the third, was injured again in the fifth and final game and had to leave. How does this impact his legacy? There's no doubt in my mind that Christian Pulisic is the best American player to ever play at the club level. The resume speaks for itself. Landon doesn't have it, Clint doesn't have it. And one day maybe the all-time U.S. men's national team player. But those guys I just mentioned, when it came to tournaments, when it came to international competition, that's when they played their best.

3:59That's when they checked off the boxes. Multiple World Cup goals, quarterfinal appearances, Confederation Cup runs, you know, Adolso Serra against Mexico, beating the likes of Portugal in 2002, getting out of the group of death, you know, finally slaying Ghana, your Achilles heel in 50 seconds. Those guys did that. Those guys had their moments. Christian Pulisic may be the most talented player for the US Men's National Team to ever grace that jersey. But he's not proven it. He's got statistics, sure. But those big moments, checking off those boxes, like those guys, they have it. He's not had it.

4:37Mauricio Pochettino exited. Still looking like Russell Crowe, but sadly Russell Crowe in that scene as the Roman General Maximus, where he's fatally stabbed in the Coliseum during the final duel. Set after the game. In the next weeks, we can start to talk if the Federation wants to talk. Right now, it's about resting a little bit. I'm so happy we built a very good relationship. Now is not a moment to talk about the future hook. Does he stay? Does he go? Do we want him? I don't think he should stay. I've said this before. I've been very underwhelming by Marisa Pochettino and I've been accused of being anti-American.

5:13It's not anti-American to want a guy who's 18, 1, and 12 to stick around. It's not anti-American to expect that if you reset the market on the coaching side, on the men's side, to see something you've never seen before, to take you to that next level. It's not un-American to not want to be embarrassed in front of the world. Raj, this was embarrassing. And I'm not just talking about on the field. I'm talking about everything that encompassed it. From the government officials reaching out to FIFA and then Pochettino trying to justify it in some way. And it's okay. It's okay if you just said, hey, what do you want me to do?

5:50I get one of my best players back. I'm going to use him. You could just say that. But don't give us some sad story about how you shouldn't be judged for it and how it's unfair. And then on the field, give us this showing. The lasting image that we're going to have of Marisa Pochettino is him kicking a water bottle. That's only second shot of that first half, I think. By the way, what was it last night, Hurt? You said, you know, you talked about it being cosmic. This team soared. This did happen. The first two games, we saw it right with our own eyes. And then with the nation watching and believing against a Belgian team who were good, but not great.

6:27I mean, this is no England who clipped Mexico. This is no Morocco who clipped Canada. We just reverted to the team we saw in March together who looked so mediocre. The one we thought would be group. Was it nerves? Was it a team under the weight of the geopolitical noise? or was it just that we got hepped up thinking they were good then the first team they played who could proactively process the ball who could do things actively other than sit low block or try and hold on? Yes, all of the above, Raj. That's a reality. Two games versus Belgium, aggregate score 9-3. That same team that Mauricio Pochettino told you in Atlanta that in this very stadium they're going to be in a semi-final, he ate five that night and he ate four yesterday and was very lucky because it could have been a lot more listen belgium is not a world beater and i think a lot of us and i include myself gave the u.s men's national team a real chance of beating belgium because of how bad belgium was this tournament i mean you have to analyze the opponent as well and belgium is very lucky to be here they were closer to their third goal conceded than they were their first goal scored against senegal that's a reality so say what you want belgium gave us reasons to doubt them That's the reality.

7:39The US Men's National Team gave them reasons to win the game. That's another reality. Raj, I picked the US to go third out of their group. I was wrong and I thought I was grotesquely wrong. They won the game I thought they were going to win, which is Australia. They lost the game I thought they were going to lose, which was Turkey. You could say circumstantial. And they peaked versus Paraguay. That's the reality here. Paraguay had their worst game under Gustavo Alfaro and a lot of that is the US Men's National Team making them bad. But that was the peak and it was the first game. Let's look at the players.

8:10Give us player ratings for the tournament. I'm going to say a player's name, give them a rating out of 10 to go through them. A quick word on each. Start with a gentleman we've already hit, Christian Pulisic. Six and a half. You gave 45 unbelievable minutes. You made us want more and couldn't give us more. And we're on the field. I don't think a lot of what happened to him is on him, at least not all of it, but half of that surely is. And I don't care if Christian Pulisic doesn't want the responsibility or the limelight. He gets it. You don't get everything that comes with being on seven of the ten commercials we get to watch in the World Cup and not have some accountability or responsibility here.

8:49He needs to own that. He really does. We'll always have that chop back that set the match against Paraguay. That highlight will always play. And the rest, so much darkness, so much what if. Flo Baligan. Nine. Because I've not seen a forward like him in a U.S. men's national team jersey in the World Cup. There was a stat that versus Belgium in the first half, he had 11 touches. He's a nine. He needs service. It's not going to happen by himself. No man is an island, and yet Foller & Balogun was close to one last night. He was all by himself. Lethal until he was in that geopolitical spotlight. Malik Tillman.

9:28Nine. I liked what I saw out of Malik. The numbers back it up, and I'm not just talking about the goals. I'm talking about the range in his passing, the distance covered, a deep line position that he was playing that I didn't know he can play. I liked a lot of what I saw from Malik Tillman in this tournament. Heartbeat of this team going forward. Very well. Could be, yes. Sergino Dest. Last night skews it down a lot. So I would say seven because I thought he was very good in other games. I thought he was instrumental in other games. But last night, he almost goes down to six, if not five and a half.

9:59Last night was a brutal watch. and I think Mariso Pochettino did him a favor, taking him out, he put him out of his misery at halftime. So Gino Dest is a beautiful human being, his spirit is just singular. He is a player we love. I do feel he's one of those we overstate the strengths of and underestimated the weaknesses of as US fans, which, you know, it's a way we always big up our players. Him more than any, Godspeed, Tim Ream. Tim Ream is a guy that surprised me in this tournament and yet validated everything I thought. He surprised me with his range, his passing, his leadership in the opening four games.

10:33And yet validated my worries about Tim Ream playing at the World Cup in the last game versus Belgium. I want to be as fair as I can to him. I'm going to give him a 7, bordering 7.5, because I was impressed with him. It's not his fault he was put in those positions. It is his fault once in those positions he was taken advantage of.

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13:02The agony of Tim Ream is he was in this team for leadership, which, you know, he has 100 at if it was a FIFA rating on a squad that really needed it and needed him. But we said from the very beginning, we knew, we knew that against the first good team, they would target Tim Ream. It was just everybody of his age, that's who you target. We knew, we knew. And last night, he was excellent against Bosnia. Excellent. But we walked into the rate. We threw ourselves on the banana skin. I said we do not choose how we go out. Football chooses. And that was hard to watch. That third goal was a human agony.

13:37Weston McKinney. Seven. And I feel bad for Weston. I mentioned something like this before where I thought he could be a casualty in the new system for Marisa Pochettino. He wasn't a casualty like Timothy Weah where he's off the field. but in terms of the best of Weston McKinney, that was taken from him for the team. I thought he did very well for the team. The arriving late into the box, the trademark Weston McKinney runs, the trademark goals and, if you will, work rate, I thought it was stifled a bit by the system but for the benefit of the team. Tyler Adams. I feel for Tyler. I'm going to give him a seven.

14:12I thought Tyler was very good this tournament and I thought he was left to cover a lot of ground yesterday. I thought Rudy Garcia taking out a few players that maybe were big-name players. Kevin De Bruyne, Odoku. They added fresh legs. Onana, Raskin in the middle. I put him in compromising positions where he really had to chase a lot more, so I fell for him. The only things I can say should have been the captain of this team. One of the great enigmas of the past two years that I have never understood for a second and may or may not come out, but my understanding is I don't understand. Alex Freeman.

14:46I liked Alex a lot. Eight. Bordering eight and a half. I liked him a lot. Stocks or the highest in this tournament? Other than flank. I think there's three players who had their stock sore. One is Foller and Balogun. The other one has Alex Freeman. And the third for me is Malik Tillman. I think the world saw Malik Tillman. Those are my three who had the stock sore. Chris Richards. The problem with all these, and I'm giving them a seven, is last night is so difficult to take out of my brain. You've not got recency bias of your hair count. Raj, I can't have my lasting image of Chris Richards, Lukaku, body-ing him.

15:20It was over. By the way, it reminded me of Tyler in the Dutch game last World Cup where he was just so shattered, the game was so spent, he just couldn't give any more. I mean, Chris Richards, to be candid, the face of the team going forward for me. I agree. It is and should be his spirit, his soul, his energy. Give that man all the bloody commercials. He should be playing for the Michelob Ultras. Amen. Gio Reyna. Seven. We did our dual Nats post game last night in the early mornings and Seb was pushing back that Gio Reyna didn't work and I'm like, hold on a second. I'm going back in my notes because I take notes during the game.

15:59Minute 45 to 55, my notes were as Sergino Desk comes off, Gio Reyna comes on, the U.S. has more of the ball and they pinned Belgium back. Guess what happened minute 54? Christian Pulisic gets injured and he's hobbling around for two minutes. Guess what happens two minutes later Matt Freese gives up that goal the third goal and it's demoralizing so you go from being in it pinning Belgium back and Gio being in that a part of that to all of a sudden game over because another mental mistake I feel for Gio there is like an element that this career internationally could have peaked I hope not but that's a fair argument American Jack Wilshere you know what I mean an elite elite moment all too young I hope that is wrong and is not the case, but we're seeing that arc.

16:42And the big question is what next in terms of the leadership, the structure. I think that will define a lot. Context is going to really define the next steps for G Arena. Last one here, poor Matt Freeze. Six and a half. The big question for Matt Freeze was what would he be like when he was finally tested? He got tested minute one. Yeah. Minute one. Rose to the occasion. Rose to the occasion, Rod. I've heard. And there it is, right? Great save. And you're thinking, this is what he needed. He's going to be settled. And then the second half, minute 56, 57 comes about. And I know what he's thinking, Raj.

17:14I know what he's thinking, exactly what he's thinking. He comes out, anticipates the ball. He's got it on his left foot. He sees up the field where he wants to pass. And I guarantee you, a Belgian player closes that lane. And he second guesses himself. And the moment you hesitate at this level, it's over. He gets his pocket picked. It's a flimsy shot. Let's be realistic here. Tim Ream can absolutely make a play on it. Goes about it to attack it with the outside of his left boot. And it goes in. And it is just demoralizing is the only way I can explain this goal. What it does, it deflates the team.

17:47It sucks out the air out of this stadium. And it puts Belgium in full control. When you had 10 minutes of good play, when you had in the second half the better play in Belgium was pinned in. This happens. It was game over. I will say watching him sob at the end of the game was really hard. He said in an interview, the defeat, quote, hurts more than probably any moment in my life. We've all had moments like that. Not many of us have had them with five billion people watching and the whole nation watching. I will say it's crushing to me that every World Cup we have, I realise this, I wrote a book about it.

18:23We have finite World Cups and each American World Cup journey is so stunted, so quick on the men's side, so fleeting. the round of 16 ceiling that we just cannot break for the past five World Cups because the other one didn't qualify for what will it take to make the quarterfinal again what needs to change it's not resources it's not being better athletes or sending your best athletes to play soccer that's not what it is it's sending your best players or as many players as you can to sharpen iron iron with the best in the world. That's what it's going to take. The American way is not the way of the world.

19:03The American way has not proven in this game to be of worth. Methodology, coaching, when it comes to facilities, we may be top, but it's not top in terms of how we prepare our players. And that's okay. But acknowledge that this isn't where the best football is played and send them where the best football is played. Because it's a numbers game. There are only eight countries to ever win a World Cup and the World Cup is almost 100 years old. Raj, we cannot be arrogant about this like we are other sports. If you're a collegiate athlete in the United States and other sports, you're amongst the best in the world.

19:36If you're a college soccer player, great, you get an education, but you're nowhere near. They are going off. What do we have in this team from MLS? We had Matt Freeze. By the way, Sebastian Berhalter came on late. He was the only player who had fight you watched him shoot narrowly miss fire up the crowd shouted his team i was like what is that that was amazing we need more of that we're sitting here hoping we get more fight that should be the bare minimum that's the embarrassing part here we were asking this team to fight to care to to die of something to to go out on their shield and we're not asking about tactical or technical what is it though podge kept saying why not us why not us the reality is why never us why never us it's never us doing a morocco it's never us doing an iceland it's never us never us doing a wales in the euros why never us round the 16 dumb what have we shown that it's us roger and this is where bocchettino can say because he's the coach but it's irresponsible of people in other networks trying to sell us like this is the year this is gonna happen why it's a final semi-final they said before the game i couldn't believe it come on it's irresponsible.

20:43It's downright arrogant. And listen, we can call a spade a spade. What happened to the U.S. was the host nation getting away with one. It's never happened before. And the rest of the world hated you for it. And that's OK to be hated. America's used to it. But could God on the field prove that you belong there? And that wasn't the case. Why not? Is this because we don't have the players? The U.S. does not have the players. The head coach of the national team after he ate five in Atlanta from Belgium said, we don't have the players. He did say that, but then two weeks ago, he said these players, they have such high IQ.

21:15He did have the players. I don't understand. The crazy thing is, less what happened last night, I don't understand. Where was the fight? Canada went out with heads held high. Gains an excellent Morocco. Mexico, full light hell. A heavyweight battle. It is a classic, a classic in World Cup history. They can leave. I've seen so many Mexican fans have come up to me in Atlanta and have said, it was an agony but I'm so proud of my boys no one in the United States is saying that today nobody this is what I don't understand is less what happened last night we knew the back line going in was a massive question mark we knew the goalkeeper was raw hadn't really been bedded in hadn't been given the chance to be bedded in had been switched up even in the World Cup had been deprived of the minutes he really really needed What, 19 caps before last night?

22:07A quarterfinal, biggest game of his life by a mile. We had so many questions. The real question is, what happened the first two games? It's not what happened last night. How did it happen that for two games we were ecstatic, we were buccaneering, that it did click, that we did create the illusion, fleetingly beautiful, that we could play with the big dogs? Last night, I understand. That was a team we feared we'd be going in. Paraguay, to me, was the outlier here. You won the game that maybe many, at least I didn't project you to win, and you won it in an emphatic manner. You peaked in the very first game.

22:42Australia is a game that many thought you would win. That's the reality here. This is the World Cup. The margins are so slim. So now we go from feeling very good about doing something that has not been done since 1930, winning the group only the third time in your history, and everybody's flying. You're the tournament darling to then off the field, bad juju, bad karma, and here you are. And now we're probably labeling this tournament a failure. Now we're probably saying, in the one moment when the world was watching, when you probably had close to 40 to 50 million Americans tuning in, you laid an egg.

23:17You buckled. This is it. This is it. I mean, this is to me why it's one of the greatest own goals in U.S. football history. You heard Uri Tielemann speak after the game. He said, let's be honest, we held the meeting when we heard the news, meaning Balogun. We told ourselves, let's do our talking on the pitch. That's what we did. I'm very proud of this team. Q, Lukaku, doing the Trump dance on our field. Seattle, the heartbeat of American soccer, mocking us. We got the country all revved up and behind us. Those scenes, the first two games, I've talked about them enough. The joy, the ebullience, the thousands of people being this team we can be proud of.

23:54I flew on planes. American Airlines gave away after the Australia win. I got a plane that was covered in U.S. jerseys, one for every passenger. They applauded. This was the football-loving land I wanted to live in. And then we wet the bed with the nation watching. What did this performance do for the brand of U.S. soccer in this country? What will its legacy be? How will it be remembered? In the last couple of days, I was doing CNN. I was getting asked by Fox. I was doing TMZ interviews. Dan Levitard, SportsCenter Around the Horn. these players this coach have no idea how for a brief moment they captivated a nation they have no idea how the world turned and looked at you as a tournament darling and all that goodwill came crashing down but here in America that goodwill would have stayed if you would have competed you had people who had never been interested in the sport interested in the sport but still these people are American and being American is defined by one thing to the majority.