Monday night’s USMNT exit was gutting, but we shouldn’t be too surprised. We knew Tim Ream, for all his qualities, was playing on borrowed time. We knew there a howler coming from such an inexperienced keeper. And we knew there would be massive karmic fallout from Dear Leader’s vainglorious meddling. But I wasn’t expecting the Yanks to go all deer in the headlights.

The warning signs flashed red in the very first minute. Matt Freese made his “save of the tournament,” denying Timothy Castagne. Yet the moment that created that moment saw the U.S. defense dither like 12-year-olds before Christian Pulisic failed to clear — and failed to clear TO THE FLANK.

Déjà vu in the 9^th min: Freeman’s clearing header was a) poor, and b) not directed away from goal. It landed (something a ball in the box should never do) near the 18 where three U.S. defenders just… froze. Trossard didn’t, slipped to the touchline and crossed to Charles de Ketelaere for the tap in.

That’s scandalous defending and it wasn’t a physical failure. The U.S. never adjusted to the speed of this match. Our guys just couldn’t wait to get rid of the ball. Sergino Dest played like he’d been drugged. I’ve never seen Tyler Adams so uncomfortable on the ball. Mental shortcomings of such wide variety point to a team that had been thoroughly spooked. After going down 3-1, the boys looked like their only goal was to not concede again. In this, too, they failed.

Credit the Belgians: The feel of this match was SO similar to the March friendly, where they did whatever they chose. But here’s the big difference: the U.S. opponent on Monday night was pissed. About FIFA and Trump. About being treated like a sideshow, not a respected opponent. And you know what? The entire footballing world had Belgium’s back.

USMNT & The Bone Spurs Effect

If we’re looking for a single explanation for the USMNT terrible first half, look no further than the latest in a long line of clumsy, tone-deaf expressions of raw power from our president. Enabled by FIFA, Bone Spurs put our national team in a terrible, no-win situation ahead of this match, for no good reason. And the team knew it. Stewing over that situation for three days is perhaps the best explanation for why this team played such a flat match devoid of confidence.

The other reason was Belgium itself. Overturning Balogun’s red card boosted the Red Devils as much as it debilitated the Americans. Also, manager Rudi Garcia continued to exhibit big brass balls. Down 2-0 to Senegal well into the second half, he takes off his best name-brand attackers Trossard, Doku & Debruyne (whose previous 37 appearances for Belgium have all been starts) — and they win the game anyway, 3-2, in extra time. Next round, he goes with the kids from the get-go (Raskin, de Ketelaere, Lukébakio) and they blow doors. Fascinated to see what goes down vs. Spain on Friday.

Still, for all these tactical triumphs, for all the U.S. brain farts, for all its weird passivity, this remained 2-1 game for 10 minutes after halftime. With Reyna (on for Dest) providing desperately needed possession, the ship appeared to have steadied. On 55 minutes I sent a text to my futbol chat: “This is better”. Before anyone could even read that accurate assessment, Freese and Ream went all Keystone Kops on us and the match was decided.

Tim Ream has been a magnificent leader for this team over two World Cup cycles. Even at 39, he’s not has as bad as he showed Monday. But he was bad — and none of his misadventures had anything to do with his much-remarked-upon lack of pace. I’ve never seen Tyler Adams so skittish, for his country or for Bournemouth. Alex Freeman’s a young player and he was clearly wigged out by the moment. Was it down to the president’s self-serving, public string-pulling — on behalf of a striker whose birthright citizenship enabled his USMNT status? I don’t know. That’s the problem with living our lives through the looking glass. We’ll never know.

But it’s also possible L’Affair Balogun had no bearing at all on the outcome. In the 66^th minute Monday night, Garcia started emptying his bench. I posted on the chat one last time: “They bring Doku ‘n Lukaku off the bench, and leave de Bruyne out? Starting to think they’re way better than us…”