The United States national team had to swallow the bitter pill to lose to the Netherlands in the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup. The cause of the United States’ defeat to the Netherlands with a score of 1-3 was also revealed by the coach, Gregg Berhalter.
Playing at the Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar, Saturday 3 December 2022, The Yanks – the nickname of the US National Team – put tremendous pressure on the Netherlands in the first round.
Unfortunately, they were conceded by two goals by Memphis Depay (10′) and Daley Blind (45+1). After that, Christian Pulisic and colleagues were able to cut their lag through Haji Wright’s goal in the 76th minute.
However, five minutes later, Denzel Dumfries’ goal broke their hopes of winning again. These results are clearly disappointing for Uncle Sam’s country.
The reason is, the United States National Team is superior in terms of ball control over the opponent with a total of 59 percent. In fact, they created 17 chances throughout the match, six points more than Virgil Van Dijk et al.
Therefore, Berhalter said it was difficult to accept this harsh reality. Because according to him, his team should have been able to win after performing well in the first round, but instead conceded two goals to the Oranje – the nickname of the Dutch national team. It was also the main cause of his team’s defeat.
“This is a difficult thing to accept for us. Tonight we failed,” said Berhalter, quoted from Independent, Sunday (4/12/2022).
“We talked about the game, about the moment, and I think the first half was a good indication of that. We dominated so much in the first half and two moments came and suddenly we were 2-0 down,” he added.
Despite the defeat, the 49-year-old tactician is still proud of the achievements of his team at the 2022 World Cup. Even though in terms of targets, they have not actually been able to fulfil them, namely reaching the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup. “Overall, I am very proud of this team for the way they handle themselves both on and off the pitch,” explains Berhalter.
“We set out with the aim of showing the whole world how we can play football and I think we achieved some of that, even though we fell short of our goal,” explains the native US coach who was born in New Jersey.
With that, the trip for the United States National Team in Qatar is over. As for the Netherlands, they will advance to the quarter-finals and will meet Argentina, who beat Australia 2-1 in the last 16, on Saturday 10 December 2022.
