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ATLANTA — On a big-picture scale, there was no pressure involved in Saturday’s World Cup friendly between the U.S. men’s national team and Belgium.
As ugly as it turned out to be, the end result on this day — Belgium 5, United States 2 — was never going to be of significant consequence.
More than pressure, preparation was paramount for the real thing: June 12 against Paraguay in the first of the three U.S. Group D matches.
The pressure in games like Saturday’s — as well as here again Tuesday against Portugal — comes for the players trying to earn a spot on the final roster once it’s named May 26, as well as those vying for a spot on the starting XI.
For Christian Pulisic, the 27-year-old face of U.S. soccer who plays for AC Milan, there is always pressure.
Pulisic is arguably one of the most talented players in the history of U.S. soccer.
His image is everywhere on USMNT advertisements — billboards, TV, bus stops.
His nickname is “Captain America.’’
The best-case scenario as this World Cup on home soil becomes a reality is that Pulisic channels his inner Jack Hughes and truly becomes “Captain America,” scoring the biggest of goals.
Unfortunately for the Americans, we saw little hint of that in Saturday’s lopsided loss despite several legitimate chances.
Before Pulisic was subbed for in the 72nd minute, he had several scoring chances on which he failed to finish.
Make no mistake: This loss was hardly on Pulisic. The U.S. back line was awful, failing to handle Belgium striker Jeremy Doku all afternoon.
But the goal-starved Americans need Pulisic to be their best offensive force.
He had a header sail over the crossbar in the seventh minute.
In the 14th minute, he sent a shot wide left of Belgium keeper Senne Lammens off a nifty Weston McKennie feed.
Seven minutes into the second half, he took a Tim Weah cross and drilled a left-footed shot way over the crossbar.
One minute later, on the counterattack, Belgium took a 2-1 lead on an Amadou Onana goal in the 53rd minute.
Pulisic would have a fourth chance, close to goal, when his shot from a difficult angle was sent wide in the 55th minute.
The U.S. has spent too many World Cups starved for goals, desperate for a proper striker to emerge, and Saturday was not a promising look into the World Cup future.
In 2022, the U.S. managed to produce just two goals in its three games in group play before losing 3-1 to the Netherlands in the round of 16.
In 2014, the U.S. scored four goals in its three group play matches and lost to Belgium 2-1 in the round of 16.
In 2010, the U.S. again scored just four goals in three group-play matches before bowing to Ghana 2-1 in the round of 16.
Surely, you detect a pattern here.
The hope for this year remains that someone — Pulisic, McKennie, anyone — helps the Americans break out offensively.
“You guys want me to feel the pressure, that’s for sure,” Pulisic said to reporters Friday. “There’s pressure. It’s a World Cup. It’s not because of my position in the team or anything. I’m used to this, I wouldn’t want to be in any other position.
“There’s pressure, I can feel it, yes, it’s there, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. I’m going to attack it head-on. I don’t need to do it myself. That’s the beauty of it. I have the whole team behind me, the staff, a country of fans and I’m just going to do the best I can do.’’
He insisted that “at this point in my career’’ dealing with the pressure “is not much of a struggle for me,’’ adding, “I’ve gotten pretty used to it. I’ve just deleted most social media off my phone. I just try to avoid it.
“There’s always going to be pressure,’’ Pulisic said. “You guys [media] might think there’s more pressure than there is because you see it and read it, and that’s what you guys do. But really, like, I’m just kind of oblivious to it.”
McKennie, who scored the first of the two U.S. goals Saturday, empathized with the scrutiny on Pulisic.
“Christian is someone that carries a lot of weight on his shoulders, especially here with the national team and with his club team as well,’’ McKennie said. “We all know that he’s a dangerous player, an important part of the team, someone that you know we can lean on whenever we’re in difficult times.
“And he accepts that, accepts his role with that, and takes it on, takes it head-on,’’ McKennie said. “I think we all know that he’s a dangerous player.’’
The U.S. needs more danger out of Pulisic. It needs him to truly be “Captain America.’’
English (US)