SEATTLE — Charles De Ketelaere scored a brace and added an assist as Belgium eliminated the United States from the World Cup with a 4-1 win in their round of 16 match on Monday.
It was a convincing performance against the co-hosts for the Red Devils, who advance to play Spain in a quarterfinal match in Inglewood, Calif., on Friday.
After Belgium thoroughly dominated in taking a 2-1 halftime lead, the U.S. ratcheted up the pressure coming out of the break seeking the equalizer. Instead, Belgium built a two-goal advantage when U.S. goalkeeper Matt Freese left his area only to misplay a long ball, leading to a goal into an empty net by Belgium midfielder Hans Vanaken in the 57th minute.
De Ketelaere was credited with the assist, which came after a pair of goals that asserted the Red Devils’ superiority in the first half. The Atalanta forward scored in the ninth and 33rd minutes, both times taking advantage of an overmatched United States backline to leave Freese with no chance.
“We played with mastery, with willingness and with determination,” Belgium coach Rudi Garcia said. “We showed a great face to the world.”
U.S. midfielder Malik Tillman tied the game at 1-1 in the 31st minute when his free kick from just outside Belgium’s box was deflected and found the back of the net with Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois diving in the opposite direction.
It finally gave the partisan sellout crowd of 66,925 something to cheer about, but the momentum was very short-lived.
Less than two minutes later, De Ketelaere connected with a header off a cross from Leandro Trossard. It was the second time De Ketelaere got between American defenders Tim Ream and Antonee Robinson, this time out-jumping Ream for the clean header.
His first goal came in the ninth minute, when the U.S. failed to clear their lines despite having numerous players in the box. Nicolas Raskin, starting in place of Kevin De Bruyne, collected the ball on the edge of the penalty box. He sent a short cross to De Ketelaere, who easily converted after sneaking between Ream and Robinson.
“I think when you concede goals that easily against a team of that quality and that caliber, it’s going to be difficult,” U.S. midfielder Tyler Adams said. “We gave them good chances, or even half-chances, and they finished them.
“It was just a little bit too easy today.”
It marked the seventh and eighth international goals for De Ketelaere, who also scored in Belgium’s 5-2 win over the USMNT in a March friendly in Atlanta. He was predictably named the player of the match.
“It is something you dream of as a kid,” De Ketelaere said. “Being a decisive player in a knockout game is a dream come true.”
The American backline that had been considered the team’s weakness entering the World Cup appeared overwhelmed by the step up in competition from the outset against the ninth-ranked Belgians.
“Today we did not show our real quality,” U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said. “We started in a really poor way. Wasn’t our day, in a collective or an individual way.”
Garcia made four changes to his starting XI from his team’s dramatic 3-2 win over Senegal in the round of 32. He said that after going to extra time to get past Senegal, some players were still not fully recovered as of Sunday and that he did not settle on his starting lineup until hours before the Monday match.
“I wanted speed in the attack,” Garcia said. “They wanted to have a high press, and that’s what we did, not them.”
The Red Devils were aggressive from the outset, logging their first shot attempt in the first minute, forcing a diving save from Freese. Belgium captain Youri Tielemans also failed to convert an excellent look a few minutes later.
Pochettino brought on Giovanni Reyna to begin the second half in an attempt to find more scoring opportunities. However, the U.S. were forced to substitute off star Christian Pulisic in the 59th minute after the forward was injured attempting to line up a shot attempt and instead kicking the leg of a defender.
Another mistake by the U.S. backline led to Belgium’s fourth goal when Romelu Lukaku scored in second-half stoppage time after a turnover by Chris Richards.
“There’s so many different thoughts and emotions that are running through me at the minute that I’m not even thinking tactically or what could have been different or what should we have done,” Ream said.
“It’s just one of those that I probably won’t be able to personally think about for a few days, until I really sit back and allow the emotions to subside.”
Pochettino added, “It just hurts to be eliminated.
“We did not play at the level that we had shown in the past. In spite of that, we are very proud of our whole campaign together. And today hurts.”
–Derek Harper, Field Level Media
