USMNT is knocked out of the World Cup in the Round of 16 by Clinical Netherlands CNN

CNN
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The United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) lost 3-1 to the Netherlands and was eliminated from the World Cup in the Round of 16, despite a spirited performance.

The Netherlands were disappointing during the group stages but showed their quality and clinical superiority on Saturday with a perfect hat-trick from Memphis Depay, Daley Blind and Denzel Dumfries.

Haji Wright managed to reduce the deficit for the North American side at the end of the second half with his team trailing 2-1, but any hopes of a comeback were dashed by Dumfries goal in the 81st minute but everyone confirmed the victory for the Netherlands.

US President Biden expressed his pride in the performance of the USMNT team in the World Cup finals following the team’s defeat, referring to the upcoming World Cup finals in 2026, which will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

“Guys, you made us proud,” Biden tweeted. “Here’s a bright future and 2026 right here at home.”

The USMNT had more shots on goal than the Netherlands, but again, the lack of a proven scorer proved costly for Greg Berhalter’s young team.

This was the youngest player in USMNT history to start in a World Cup knockout game who lined up to face the Netherlands, aiming to reach the quarterfinals for only the second time in the modern era.

Berhalter’s side dominated the opening exchanges, finding space behind the Dutch defence, Christian Pulisic had an early chance, and competing one-on-one with orange Goalkeeper Andres Nobert, who blocked the Chelsea striker’s shot wide of the goal.

Absorbing this early pressure, Holland counterattacked with deadly precision.

After breaking through the USMNT midfield, Cody Gakpo found Dumfries on the edge of the penalty area who pulled the ball to Depay perfectly positioned in front of goal. The Barcelona striker finished off a sweeping move, smashing the ball into the net.

The USMNT kept pressing – with Nobert parrying a blow from Timothy Weah and Serginho Dest going through several winding runs – but couldn’t find a way past the Dutch defense.

And then, at the end of the first half, the Netherlands doubled their lead as Blind volleyed in Dumfries’ cross in a move almost identical to their first goal.

Immediately after the break, the USMNT almost pulled a goal back as the ball bobbled into the box from a corner kick and Tim Ream steered it inches from the goal line but Holland cleared it.

USMNT goaltender Matt Turner made an almost certain stoppage as he made two saves, stopping two in quick succession to keep alive his team’s fading hopes of making the quarterfinals.

His quick reflexes proved even more important minutes later when the USMNT finally scored when Wright volleyed in a Pulisic cross, with his effort repeated over Nobert’s head.

The noise in the stadium, which seemed packed with American fans, became briefly deafening, but only minutes later Dumfries headed in Frenkie de Jong’s cross to confirm the Netherlands’ victory.

With this goal, Dumfries became the first Dutch player to be directly involved in more than three goals in a single World Cup match since 1978, according to stats website OptaJoe.

USMNT star Christian Pulisic said he was “really proud” of the team’s performance at the World Cup.

“I hope we’ve shown a lot of people what we can do,” Pulisic told FOX’s Jenny Taft. “We deserved more from this championship. At the end of the day, we couldn’t have pulled it off, but I think there’s a lot we can be proud of.

“It hurts a lot right now,” Pulisic added. “We thought we could have stepped up and did a lot more this time, but I love these guys, and we have a really special group.”

The Netherlands now qualify for the quarter-finals, where they will face either Argentina or Australia on Friday.