USMNT goalkeeper Matt Freese admits that the backlash he and some of his teammates have received from supporters after the World Cup has hurt him.
Heading into the World Cup, there were significant doubts about how well the USMNT would perform, as well as how much interest fans would pay to the tournament.
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Well, it’s fair to say that a large part of the American public embraced the tournament, a process no doubt helped by the fact Mauricio Pochettino’s team played very well during the group stages.
Their dreams, however, came crashing down in the last 16 when the USMNT were easily beaten by Belgium in the World Cup round of 16.
They have since faced fierce criticism and New York City FC goalkeeper Freese admits that has stung.
Freese sad at the backlash USMNT players have received
Speaking to ESPN, the 27-year-old opened up.
He said: “The desire and will to maximize our performance was so strong it hurts my heart to see that people don’t know that because it is true. I wish I could talk to every person personally and individually and explain this to them and tell them this.”
He admitted that reading some of the comments and criticism has been upsetting, while expressing a desire to speak to supporters on an individual basis to explain just how much the USMNT wanted to progress in the World Cup.
There was certainly enough to suggest that this team could compete again under Pochettino, even if his long-term future as coach is relatively uncertain right now. The Argentine was only contracted until after the tournament but reports have suggested he could be in line for an extension.
The Belgium game was complicated, to say the least.
Indeed, Folarin Balogun even admitted that his red card saga made the USMNT nervous heading into the Belgium meeting in Seattle and it certainly looked like that on the field.
That’s not to say that they would have beaten Belgium without all of the drama but it would have been fascinating to see what would have happened had they been able to approach that game without all of the unnecessary drama.
Read more:
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