World Cup co-hosts USA suffered a humbling 2-5 defeat to Belgium on Saturday, with head coach Mauricio Pochettino labelling the result as a wake-up call.
“I see this as a good check reality for us, because now is the moment to feel this type of situation, to improve. To feel sometimes the pain is good,” said Pochettino.
Mauricio Pochettino
The US took the lead through Weston McKennie (39th min), before Zeno Debast equalised six minutes later. Belgium then burst into life in the second-half with a deluge of goals from Amadou Onana (53), Charles De Ketelaere (59), and Dodi Lukebakio (68 and 82).
Patrick Agyemang’s 87th-minute spot kick did little to reduce USA’s woes. By then, thousands of US fans had left the domed arena, and full time was greeted with a smattering of boos and whistles.
The World Cup begins on June 11 and will be held across the US, Canada and Mexico.
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
