US soccer needs to stop fooling itself after World Cup disaster— and answer these hard questions

SEATTLE — Don’t tell me this wasn’t a failure.

Don’t talk nicely about how the US men’s national team had a good run. Don’t act like they deserve a pat on the back. And don’t you dare use the word “progress” to describe a result that was the exact same as four years ago, only with higher highs, a far worse ending and a team that looked like it could have achieved much more but didn’t.

To quote the only world leader who had ever been mocked over a soccer result like this before Monday: No, no, no.

This was the most talented team the USMNT has ever had and it’s not particularly close. It was the most prestigious coach they’ve ever had and it’s not close. It was a World Cup on home soil. The entire country was behind them in a way that’s never happened before including, in typically controversial fashion, the president.