The United States men’s national team’s World Cup preparations turned into an embarrassing display on Saturday, as Belgium decimated the co-hosts in the second half to win at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Head coach Mauricio Pochettino elected to go with a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Matt Turner getting the start between the posts ahead of Matt Freese. Tim Ream and Mark McKenzie were the center-back pairing, as Miles Robinson and Chris Richards were out due to injuries. Johnny Cardoso and Tanner Tessmann were paired in defensive midfield.
It was a very positive start for the Americans, and they were duly rewarded in the 39th minute when Weston McKennie was on the spot to run onto a corner kick from Antonee Robinson and steer the ball into the back of the net.
The Belgians did not look deterred as they leveled the score six minutes later. Turner parried away Jeremy Doku’s shot from the left side, but Zeno Debast was able to recover the ball and blast a long-range shot into the goal.
The cascade of goals came in the second half, and the U.S. had no way of stopping them.
Amadou Onana gave Belgium the lead in the 53rd minute when he one-timed his shot in after a pass from Alexis Saelemaekers. Charles De Ketelaere converted a penalty six minutes later after a handball from Tim Ream. Dodi Lukebakio scored a double in the 68th and 82nd minutes, respectively.
Patrick Agyemang came off the bench to score a second goal for the U.S. in the 87th minute, which was a dreadful performance for the team that heads to the World Cup in June.
Pochettino will try to get the players together for Tuesday when they take on Portugal.
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