AL RAYYAN, Qatar — Christian Pulisic covered his face as he walked off. Kellyn Acosta, Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie gathered for a group hug. Sean Johnson, Tim Weah and DeAndre Yedlin sat on the field in a small circle with their cleats off.
“It hurts after a tough loss like that when we feel like we could have had more,” said Pulisic, the 24-year-old winger managing a voice only just above a whisper. “We don’t want to feel like this again.”
The U.S. men’s national soccer team’s return to the World Cup ended with a 3-1 loss to the Netherlands on Saturday in the round of 16. While the Oranje extended their unbeaten streak to 19 games and advanced to a quarterfinal with Argentina, the Americans contemplated how far they came and how short they fell.
Defensive lapses gave the Dutch a treat as Memphis Depay scored in the 10th minute and Daley Blind found the net in stoppage time at the end of the first half.
U.S. hope revived when Pulisic’s cross hit the trailing foot of second-half substitute Haji Wright and popped over goalkeeper Andries Noppert and into the net in the 76th minute. However, Denzel Dumfries then scored on a volley in the 81st after assisting on the first two Dutch goals.