...
By Matthew Couden
Contributing Writer
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
A 3-2 loss to Turkiye may not have been what the United States Men's National Team wanted as they head to the Round of 32, but according to a former player, it was exactly what this team needed at the World Cup.
“I think last night was probably the best thing that could have happened to us. Everything was going too smooth, too great, we looked good,” retired soccer star Brek Shea said on ESPN’s “Get Up.”
"We needed to get punched in the face. I wanted to see how we react, and I think in the second half, we did that. We came back, we showed a little bit of something, and we puffed our chest out and got another goal," he added.
Read More on Sports
Shea, who previously starred for the USMNT in the 2013 Gold Cup, praised Turkiye for winning the match, adding that "16 things went wrong" for the USMNT in the final minute of stoppage time. However, he said this won't change much for them, indicating they still have the coach and the team necessary to do well in their next game.
More news: Mauricio Pochettino Shows Frustration With Reporters After USMNT Loss
...
The USMNT's Weston McKennie expressed similar sentiments regarding the team's momentum, suggesting the loss would only motivate them to show the first two games "weren't a coincidence."
Thursday night's loss at Los Angeles Stadium in Inglewood, California, included many celebrities there to support the team. Among them were actors Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Owen Wilson, as well as Los Angeles Rams players Puka Nacua and Ty Simpson.
Despite an early first-ever World Cup goal from the USMNT's Auston Trusty, Turkiye tied things up just seven minutes later. They took a 2-1 lead into halftime, marking the first time an opponent got ahead of the USMNT in a 2026 World Cup match before halftime.
However, they tied things up just four minutes into the second half, as Sebastian Berhalter scored a huge goal. For a while, it appeared this game would end as a draw, which wouldn't be as bad as a loss.
Turkiye got aggressive in the final moments of the game and ultimately capitalized on sloppiness near the USMNT goal to score within the final minute of stoppage time. With Turkiye not advancing to the next round, their World Cup trip was not completely uneventful.
The good news is this loss was just a wake-up call and didn't end the USMNT's World Cup run. The team should have its full roster on the pitch for its next match, including Christian Pulisic and Folarin Balogun, the latter of whom sat out for the Turkiye game, and it seems like they'll be fully focused on advancing to the next round.
The USMNT faces Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Round of 32 on Wednesday, July 1.
More news: Cristiano Ronaldo Replaces USMNT Star on Zlatan Ibrahamovic’s World Cup List
For more about the FIFA World Cup, visit Newsweek Sports.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines