USMNT and Pressure

I was incredibly excited for the USMNT game last night versus Belgium in the round of 16. We had the opportunity to get to the quarterfinals in a home World Cup in a soccer crazed city of Seattle right after celebrating our 250th anniversary on the 4th of July. We had played great the last 4 games and Belgium was an aging team that wasn’t the same.

It had all the makings of a magical evening. Then the game began and the team froze under the pressure. Disappointed is one of many words that comes to mind watching the game yesterday. Not only did we lose, but we were utterly dismantled.

There were not a ton of expectations for the team to get past the quarterfinals, but getting there would show meaningful progress that we may be over the hump and one of the best teams in the field. I still do believe that the team has what it takes to compete and beat Belgium, but it was evident to me that the pressure just simply got to them.

In the first 4 games, we saw a team that was free flowing and playing loose and having fun. Last night, we saw a team who came in playing scared and afraid to make mistakes. Credit to Belgium for also playing against our strengths well, but just looking at the way most of our players played yesterday was just awful to watch.

I have never been in any situation where the pressure is even in the same stratosphere for what the team went through last night. But I do know how much pressure can impact performance. Often I’m able to channel that pressure and stress into something great, but sometimes the pressure gets to you and you can crumble.

I have no insight into the practices or what was said or done over the last week since the last game. But perhaps the hype and enthusiasm for the team from celebrities, politicians, etc. was just too much for them.