Show Caption
INGLEWOOD, Ca. — Tempting as it is to revert back to the usual doom and gloom there is about the U.S. men's national team, the loss to Turkey comes with an asterisk.Yes, the game was rough. Like, this is what every USMNT fan feared the World Cup was going to look like before the tournament started, rough. Maybe worse, given they lost 3-2 after Turkey scored on the last kick of the game.But this version of the USMNT wasn't the one that dominated its first two games and won the group. It's not the version Bosnia-Herzogovenia is going to see in the round of 32. That version? That version is one for which you can have high expectations.This version was the B team."We're exactly where we expected ourselves to be, where we want to be. And now you have to play the same way as we did the first two games," said U.S. captain Tim Ream, who did not play in the group-stage finale."The way we played the first two games is exactly the way we need to come out and play in the knockouts," Ream said. "If we do that, then we give ourselves the best possible chance to continue to move on."That is the takeaway from this game.There was absolutely nothing at stake in the Thursday, June 25 game against Turkey. The USMNT had already clinched the top spot in Group D and Turkey was already eliminated. Four indispensable starters – Tyler Adams, Folarin Balogun, Chris Richards and Antonee Robinson – all risked suspension for the round of 32 game if they picked up a second yellow card.So USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino starting a lineup full of backups, and Weston McKennie, made sense."Winning this game or not winning this game is not going to change. The most important is that we compete," Pochettino said. "We competed really well."I wouldn't go straight to well.In an ideal world, the second-stringers would have ridden the momentum the starters created and sent the USMNT into the knockout rounds with a record nine points. But with the exception of maybe France, there aren't a whole lot of teams that can wholesale rotate lineups without there being a drop-off.The USMNT was never going to be the exception to that rule.Gio Reyna set the tone when he punted the opening kick and bonked it off the corner flag. The USMNT looked slow – Tim Weah was aging before our eyes – and Turkey sliced through the backline as if the Americans were playing a game of statue. The defensive breakdowns that allowed Turkey's game-winner just before the final whistle were inexcusable.It’s at this point I need to remind you that this same Turkey team came into the game not only having yet to win but having yet to score.Alas."I think I played a horrible game today. Disappointed in myself," Weah said.He wasn't the only one. There is a reason there have been few quibbles with Pochettino's preferred starting lineup. They're the best the USMNT has and, as we've seen so far, they're pretty darned good."Going into the next game we just have to fix a few things. I think there's going to be some different people out there so we'll have that bit of a buzz," Weah said.Even with that abysmal breakdown at the very end of the game, the result doesn't mean Pochettino's decision against Turkey was wrong. Far from it.No team goes through a World Cup unscathed. Players get injured and pick up yellow cards. Someone off the bench, probably many ones, is going to have to play a significant role at some point during the tournament. Better they get the butterflies out now, when it doesn't matter, then throw them in untested when it's win-or-go-home time."It's a squad of 26. Everybody has a part to play. Everybody has a role," Ream said. "You need guys ready and focused and having minutes under their belt in games that while we can say it didn't mean anything, it's still a meaningful game. It's a World Cup game. So it gives everybody a taste of what life will be like if they are called upon and have to contribute even more than they have so far."Turkey also was chippy. The only thing they had to play for was pride, but that's a pretty powerful motivator and they were bodying the Americans from the jump. If someone is going to get injured — and, fortunately, no one did — you'd rather it not be one of your starters.To be fair, the team did play better in the second half. A goal, from Sebastian Berhalter off a set piece, will do that for you. So, too, the return of Christian Pulisic for the first time since the first half of the Paraguay game."I think the reaction in the second half was very, very good. We came back out, tied the game up," Brenden Aaronson said. "And then I know myself, I had a very big chance. Christian had a very big chance. Weston did too. If we score one of those, it's a different game."They didn't score, though, and Turkey did, ending the USMNT's unbeaten run at this World Cup. The thing is, no one wins every game at the World Cup. Heck, Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia in the group stage four years ago and they wound up OK.If the USMNT starters had produced this result, then it would be time to panic. Instead it's just ... an asterisk.Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.
