USMNT book Belgium World Cup showdown: "Why not us?" | OneFootball

By Charles Boehm

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – “In football, all is possible if you believe.”

Even now, even after three resounding victories have advanced the United States to the FIFA World Cup’s Round of 16 with palpable momentum, there will be many across the country and beyond who will scoff at phrases like these from head coach Mauricio Pochettino.

The latest one was uttered in the wake of Wednesday’s impressive 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, a Round of 32 match where the Yanks had to survive shorthanded for much of the second half after a straight red card to goalscorer Folarin Balogun.

“That was the moment to show everyone, to show ourselves, that it’s not only empty words when we say that we are a family,” said Pochettino. “The team showed the qualities, the capacity to compete, to fight for each other. Yes, I’m so proud of the players.

“They are the heroes. They are the principal actors, and they deserve all the praise.”

Making history

For most skeptics, it’s the program’s sheer paucity of a track record in this competition: The Bosnia victory is only the second knockout-stage win in US men’s history. The Yanks have nothing like the pedigree of even a less-storied member of the European elite like Belgium, their opponent on Monday in Seattle. The fact remains that only eight nations in history have won a World Cup; it’s the most exclusive club in world soccer, and only one new member (Spain) has joined in the current century.

Don’t bother trying to impose any such reality checks on the USMNT, who insist they have fully internalized Pochettino’s ‘Why not U.S.?’ motto.

“We all believe in it, we've all talked about it, we all say it: Why not us?” said captain and Charlotte FC defender Tim Ream after Wednesday’s triumph. 

“So it's taken hold. It's all over our spaces in the hotels, and it's a reminder to continue to believe. We're fully, fully ingrained in that.”

Belgium rematch

That faith now figures to be tested like never before. In Belgium, the Yanks will face the world’s ninth-ranked side, one that defeated them fairly easily, 5-2, when they met during a March friendly in Atlanta.

“We obviously have to learn from our mistakes in March and be ready for a team that can score goals,” said Seattle Sounders FC icon Cristian Roldan. “It’s going to be extra motivation, extra energy to get a good result.”

They’ll have to do so without Balogun, their leading scorer at this tournament and in the eyes of many observers, their top performer as well. Further, any theory of the Red Devils being a spent force took a hit earlier on Wednesday, when they reversed a 2-0 second-half deficit vs. Senegal in a matter of minutes, leveling their knockout clash in Seattle and eventually winning 3-2 in extra time.

While the USMNT enjoyed a visceral home-field advantage in the Emerald City when they defeated Australia 2-0 during the Group Stage, Belgium are already well familiar with the area, having picked the Sounders’ Longacres training facility for their World Cup base camp and playing two of their matches there.

“For me, it is one of the contenders about to win the World Cup. Unbelievable quality, great coach,” said Pochettino. “It's going to be really tough, and it's going to be very competitive, and of course, for us, it's about keeping dreaming, it's about keeping working really hard and competing.

“With all the respect to Belgium, with our fans in Seattle, I think we can be very competitive, and of course try to win the game and to go to the next round.”

Seattle boost

Even as their so-called ‘golden generation,’ led by the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne and Thibaut Courtois, ages into their mid-30s, the Red Devils retain fearsome quality and a growing sense of purpose as they try to achieve something before those legends ride into the sunset.

That too is fuel for the USMNT as they aim to avenge that springtime humbling in Atlanta.

“That's what we wanted. We wanted another crack at them,” said Vancouver Whitecaps FC midfielder Sebastian Berhalter. “They're a good team, but we believe that we can go there and give them a fight, and hopefully go out with the win.”

As comfortable as the Belgians may be on Puget Sound, the Yanks expect their faithful to turn up on Monday and provide the ‘12th man’ backing again.

“They set a high bar in the last round, in the Group Stage,” said Ream of the Seattle support. “We're looking forward to getting up there again. We're looking forward to playing in front of that crowd, and hopefully we can do something special again.”