One by one, the Americans stood up and unwittingly built a staccato chant that spoke of their pain as they were outshot 3-1 by the Netherlands, a feeling that they could have done more and could have done more.
When goalkeeper Matt Turner said, “The big thing is that the margins of success or failure in this competition are paper thin,” or what he learned while being the world’s youngest captain, he offered a little bit of what he learned. Cap Tyler Adams said, “If there’s anything this team can take away from him, it’s going to come down to the margin,” or veteran DeAndre Yedlin said, “The biggest thing is the team learned what it feels like to lose a game.” World Cup, and that goes a long way, or as Christian Pulisic said, “We don’t want to feel that way again.”
First came Turner, 28: “The silence is deafening. [in the locker room]; Everyone is sad. He talked about how the Dutch were waiting for the cut crosses that spoiled the first two balls, “it went down to the two boxes”, he said, “they missed their chance”, he said it was an honor and he said he hoped. Boys and girls look up to them and want to be like them.
“There is enormous potential,” he said. “I don’t know if you haven’t seen this. … The potential is clear. He didn’t want that to be “our MO” and added: “It’s part of changing the expectations of our fans, changing the expectations of the players in the locker room, and it’s not just that we won the trophy because we finished the round.” from 16″
Next came the 23-year-old Adams, who talked about those “margins” — they’re everywhere, really, in the 32-team event — and how the center backs did “really well” and how it wasn’t for 2010 and 2014 that he didn’t know the United States had reached the same level, but this It feels “special”.
Soon after, 29-year-old center fielder Walker Zimmerman arrived. The American defense that carried through Group B analyzed the Dutch stick but could not overcome Denzel Dumfries’ first-half defense. “That’s right, you probably don’t know what you saw on tape. I mean, I have to go back as a team to see if those spots are open. As a team, we were not affected by those incidents. Maybe it’s something you’ve seen. Maybe it was just a kill in that moment, but again, really that second, we have to be able to mentally stop that play from happening.
he summed up. “That’s what makes it so hard, just knowing how special this team was, how hard we worked,” he said. He thought they had arrived with the intention of winning it all and “showed we can compete with anyone” and went on to list promising qualities including “the youth of the team”, “bond”, “our love”. Live for each other. This World Cup was something a lot of American fans could look at and be proud of – it was the way we played, the way we did our job. So I think we’re coming back hungrier than ever, something that a lot of men consider their core. There are a lot of guys coming through the pipeline that I think will contribute. So it’s an exciting time to be an American soccer fan, and I want it to be a legacy — that’s when we think this is a team that can do something that no American team has ever done.
Andries Noppert appeared. He’s Dutch and a goalkeeper, not American, and he took a few questions and said: “They go like crazy, like hell. They are working together. They don’t give up.”
Despite being short, 20-year-old Yunus Musah said: “The team we are, we could have done a lot better.”
Brendan Aronson, 22, was a little shorter and “sad and a lot of emotions.” It’s just hard.” And, “I mean, listen — we had as many opportunities as they did.
Only 25 years old, Antoine Robinson rarely spoke about his two early goals: “I don’t know. I can’t tell you. Maybe they dragged our team down a bit in terms of positioning. Coach Greg Berhelter is hopeful they will stay and said, “It’s given a lot of guys a chance to grow with this team. You look at the whole campaign, and everyone has played their first World Cup.
“I feel like I gave it my best,” he said, adding that “a lot of these players can be together for years and years.”
24-year-old Weston McKenney came to the defense of Pulisic’s foul in the third minute, saying: “For anyone who tries in the future, ‘Oh, if only Christian had scored that,’ we all saw what he did for America.” Football. We all know it’s a collective here. We all try to support each other.
“This tournament has really renewed a lot of confidence, a lot of respect,” he said of “a common goal four years ago” after the United States lost the last World Cup. We have shown that we can be giants. We may not be there yet, but we’re definitely on our way.
“There was a lot in the tank,” he asked wondering about fatigue.
“It’s going to hurt for a while,” he said of his ex-wife.
“We’ve definitely come a long way,” he said.
He said the Dutch thought they had two chances early on, but they also had two real goals. “We felt we were 2-nil down, but it didn’t feel like it should be. That’s what good teams do. They will punish you.”
Yedlin, 29, the only remaining player from Brazil 2014, stood up and said: “I mean, I think it gave us hope for a lot of people. People see the talent of this group, they are happy. The camaraderie of the team is fun.
“It’s a different story now,” he said. After putting in so much, you know what it feels like to lose.
Finally came 35-year-old defenseman Tim Ream. “Sometimes, you know, good players get the jump on you,” he said of the night, his World Cup and American career cut short. You guessed it. Those two players [Dumfries and Memphis], they were a little faster. It’s probably something they’ve worked on.
“Yeah,” he said, “I mean, I’ve tried to convey to the guys: You have no guarantees in this game. I have been in the program for 12 years, no guarantees. Many of these people are guaranteed another World Cup. This will not happen to me. … I gave it my all, and I hope these guys take that advice. I’ve seen them take that advice in the three weeks we’ve been together, so I hope they continue.”
Thus the mixed zone was completed for the night.
