MARIETTA, Ga. — Mauricio Pochettino didn’t need to watch any tape to understand what happened to his U.S. men’s national team in its 5-2 loss to Belgium in Saturday’s World Cup warm-up match at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The Americans played with an intensity that reeked of desperation against the higher-ranked Belgians in the first half, dictated play for the first 35 minutes and went into the locker room tied 1-1.
They allowed that intensity to drop in the second half and were wiped out by the superior European side, which scored four goals in the final 45 minutes.
Ahead of Tuesday’s second warmup match of this Atlanta camp against No. 6 Portugal at 7 p.m., a somewhat innocuous — but relevant — question was posed to the USMNT coach Monday about intensity and the importance of sustaining it for 90 minutes.
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