[dfwgator]

Only a little luck was missing at the end.

And Skill, which Belgium had in spades over the US. Playing hard will get you so far, but to get past this point, it takes players who can create those magic moments, like Messi did late against Switzerland.

[BeadCounter]

And Skill, which Belgium had in spades over the US. Playing hard will get you so far, but to get past this point, it takes players who can create those magic moments, like Messi did late against Switzerland.

I don't know if it still applies to the USA now that we have our own competent league but in the past, I'd heard that the USA plays somewhat like collegians, we can run, we have the work-rate but as for skill, that's where our fall-off is.

Belgium put together a host of threats before actually converting. But in the end mainly from AET I guess, we ended up with about even possession, roughly I heard Belgium had 185 passes completed to 165 for us

[cartan]

And Skill, which Belgium had in spades over the US. Playing hard will get you so far, but to get past this point, it takes players who can create those magic moments, like Messi did late against Switzerland.

Well, yes, but even so, the US showed good defensive style, and with just a little luck, would have made it at least to a penalty shootout, out maybe even outright won in extra time, if the refs hadn’t incorrectly called it offside. Liverpool won the Champions League once playing very defensively.