July 7, 2026 • 10 mins
Ryan, Dana, and Nathalie Rodriguez discuss the United States men's national soccer team's World Cup run ending with a 4-1 loss to Belgium. They break down the costly defensive mistakes, missed opportunities, and what the disappointing defeat means for the future of the U.S. team.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Ryan Gordman Show podcast presented by VERA and VERA
Accident Attorneys from Tampa.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Good morning, Natalie, Is it though? Is it after yesterday?
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (00:12):
No, American heartbreak in Seattle, the US men's national team
officially out of the World Cup after a brutal four
to one blowout loss to Belgium. The Red Devil struck early,
but our own South Florida's own, Malik Tillman, gave fans
hope with a gorgeous thirty first minute free kick equalizer
to tie it up one one. The joy lasted all
(00:34):
of sixty sixty one seconds before Charles de Kettelaire scored
his second goal of the night. Now, all eyes definitely
were on Balagan last night after President Trump's controversial intervention
got his red card suspension somewhat lifted. But on the pitch,
the star striker had a night to forget. Locked down
(00:54):
by a ruthless, honestly ruthless Belgian defense, Baligan was limited
to just nineteen touches over ninety minutes. His biggest impact
did come in the first half when he actually pumped
up the crowd and drew that crucial thirty first minute
fel which led to Tillman's free kick goal. And then,
of course other World Cup action over in Los Angeles,
Spain broke Portuguese Hearts with a stunning ninetieth minute stoppage
(01:19):
time winner to knock out Cristiano Ronaldo in a one
to zero thriller. President Trump did weigh in, by the way,
on Truth's social last night bashing they was soccer strategy,
calling the blowout a national embarrassment. Then he kind of
like switched gears and turned his attention to keep his
energy crisis. But nothing to see here, nothing to see here, embarrassment.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Seriously, I mean, it was a bad game. They played
a bad game.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
Well, but he's dissed because he made that call. He
got the red card thing overturned or whatever the proper
terminology for it is, and he thought they were going
to win.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
And then they did it.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
They came out and it looked like the moment was
a little big for them, and then after that goal
to tie things up one one, after Tillman tied it up,
you felt like maybe momentum had changed and Team USA
right back in it. There was a lot of energy
(02:15):
in the stadium. And then, like you said, Natalie, I
think it was, you know, less than a minute later. Yeah,
Belgium takes a two to one lead, and that was
the moment you kind of knew, don't think this is going.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
To be our night.
Speaker 5 (02:27):
And then the mistakes started to pile up and just
that's the thing.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Else.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yeah, it didn't it didn't look good.
Speaker 5 (02:32):
Belgium just completely outplayed an outclass team USA, fourth time
in the last five World Cups that the Americans exited
at the round of sixteen. So obviously you're hoping they
could take the next step in twenty thirty.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
It is a young team.
Speaker 5 (02:47):
I think most of them are going to be back
in a couple of years, so maybe you know, having
this experience. They they played really well up until this
point and then just flowed.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
They let it go, let it go exactly.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
We had that energy that come back back to back
a goal from cape Urd in the other game that
we saw with Argentina. But you know, just Tmusa didn't
have it together, no, no, not what they needed it most.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
And I appeared on News Nation last night on Katie
Pavlich tonight right after the match, because when you think
like instant reaction to a soccer match, you think Ryan
Gorman synonymous some NewsNation having on for some analysis and
(03:32):
also talk about the red car controversy. But I said
at the start of the hit, you do wonder. I
think it's fair to question whether or not this whole
controversy fired Belgium up. Because Belgium hadn't been playing that
great in this World Cup tournament so far, and all
of a sudden they play like they did last night.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
You wonder if there's all something extra.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
I definitely think so. I think they were pissed because
they thought they were going to go into it and
they probably felt like it was unfair the call was
made and then it got turned around because the president
called the head of FIFA.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Of course they were fired up.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (04:04):
Look, players for Team USA said that the controversy surrounding
the red card decision it was not a distraction. Of
course they're going to say that. You can't tell me
that the Balligan wasn't impacted by the whorld win that
he's been dealing with over the past forty eight hours.
I mean, come on, of course it's going to have
an effect. So you wonder if it did impact the match,
(04:27):
and unfortunately not in a great way for Team USA. Look,
I wanted Team USA to win, but just looking at
it objectively, you wonder if this wasn't the best case
scenario for the sport where Belgium they win.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
So there's not this whole thing about Team USA winning
and should they have Yeah.
Speaker 5 (04:53):
Baligan playing in the match and Belgium beat Team USA
with Team USA at full strength, with their full team
and one of their best players on the field. So
you know, now we can all kind of move on.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
I'm still kind of focused on the whole. You know,
there's messy Cristiano and Gorman.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
That's true. That's true. And I like that. I like
how you put me above Beckham too, Thank you. I
appreciate that.
Speaker 5 (05:23):
That is. That is one thing. As good as some
of the players for Team USA.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
R were, we're missing a messy.
Speaker 5 (05:32):
Yeah, this was a match where you needed somebody to
step up and play like a messy and and nobody did. Uh.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
It was very It was a frustrating game. Soccer is
a frustrating sport to watch, you know.
Speaker 5 (05:45):
It kind of the ball's going, it's like it's something
going to happen, and then something does, and then it
takes a while for you know, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
What strategy is. Yeah, it's yeah, Yeah. The crowd was
into It's a great crowd there and set great singing.
Good morning, Natalie, good morning. Well we've got American heartbreak
in Seattle. The US men's national team officially out of
the World Cup brutal floorida one blowout loss to Belgium.
All eyes on val Balligan after the President's political pressure
(06:15):
successfully overturned his red card suspension. Now, he did draw
the massive thirty first minute foul that set up Malick
Tillman's gorgeous free kick equalizer, but other than that, it
was pretty much he was locked down by Belgium's defense.
He managed only nineteen touches before being pretty much subbed
out in stoppage time. The second half total defensive meltdown.
(06:39):
We had US goalie Matt Freeze who was stripped outside
his box too pretty much. Gift wrapped a third Belgian goal.
Then Ramulu Lukaku hammered the final dagger, and the President
he didn't hold back. Late last night he took the
truth social blasting the US soccer strategy, calling it a
national embarrassment. Now, focus though, now shifting to the road
(07:01):
to the trophy, which still runs through Miami. We've got
today at noon Argentina playing Egypt, Columbia battling Switzerland. Saturday,
Miami Stadiums hosting Earling Holland and Norway against England, and
that should be a nail bider.
Speaker 5 (07:15):
It's a shame Team USA's run came to an end,
but they were clearly outmatched. They looked a little bit
nervous at the beginning of the match, and then when
they tied things up one to one, that's what it
felt like, all right, maybe this is what Team USA
needed and they can really pull this thing off.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
And they had a long shot.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
It was pretty much we talked about the bets and
the chances of them even winning before the drama with
the red card.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
It was pretty slim to none to begin with.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
But I mean, they really did drop the ball, and
I think the pressure that was on them just served
to Belgian's silver plate.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
They ran with it.
Speaker 5 (07:56):
Once Team USA tied it up and you felt like
they had a bit of momentum. It's just sixty seconds
later Belgium takes a two to one lead. I mean,
it happened so fast, and in sports that's just a killer.
When when you even things up and it feels like,
all right, maybe now things are moving in the right direction.
And then just moments later, you know, your opponent does
(08:17):
something like that. It just takes the wind right out
of your sales. Yeah, let me talk about the flopping
for a second. The flopping, the flopping, the tiniest bit
of contact and these guys, grown men, they're flailing around
on the ground and pain like it was the middle.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Of the night and they stepped on their kids legos.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
Yes, it was funny because when I went to that
watch party and so this was the first game that
I actually sat and really watched, my friend, who pays
attention to soccer, said, well, this is what they do.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
They're a bunch of babies. Oh my god, like Academy
awards left and right.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Oh my gosh, they're really hurt. That must have really hurt.
And it was like, no, no, no, it's not really
that bad. They just kind of overreacts all drama.
Speaker 5 (09:02):
Jack Hughes lost his teeth for our men's hockey team
during the Olympics.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Didn't miss it, be right, miss lost his teeth.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
These guys thinking like a stub toe and all.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
My I will say though, that it was Tillman, right,
who in the last match he ended up having a
bloody his foot got stepped on and he went and
kicked a goal anyway, and after he said, it's just pain.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
So I was impressed by that.
Speaker 5 (09:31):
Yeah, but they're always trying to draw. They're always trying
to draw penalty. It's like instead of just playing the game.
And you know, you see this in the NBA too,
It's like they're trying to draw penalty or something instead
of just playing the game. They go down and you know,
it's this big scenetic. It's so dramatic. It's like, oh,
my god, should we give him a red card? Honestly,
(09:54):
the way he's down, maybe we should charge the guy
with assault.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
And it's not even half as bad as it used
to because now we've got those cameras that the refs
carry around, so we're seeing it as it's happening. So
if you focus on the players that go down, they're
only down for a couple of seconds before they actually
get get up. First, it was drama, and now all
of a sudden, I set it off.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Everything is good.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
Back in the day, when we didn't have those cameras,
there was this magic spray that the that the the
crew would come out on the field and spray the
players with it all of a sudden.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
That was the magic spoy that happened.
Speaker 5 (10:23):
Yeah, I noticed that they don't get the call they
were looking for, and then I'm good.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Also, I'll keep playing. That's my big takeaway from watching
the World Cup so far.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Us In Live to have a Ryan Gorman Show on
iHeartRadio every weekday morning on w IOD and Miami, w
f l A and Tampa, presented by Verah and Farah
Accident Attorneys, Tampa,
The Ryan Gordman Show podcast presented by VERA and VERA
Accident Attorneys from Tampa.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Good morning, Natalie, Is it though? Is it after yesterday?
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (00:12):
No, American heartbreak in Seattle, the US men's national team
officially out of the World Cup after a brutal four
to one blowout loss to Belgium. The Red Devil struck early,
but our own South Florida's own, Malik Tillman, gave fans
hope with a gorgeous thirty first minute free kick equalizer
to tie it up one one. The joy lasted all
(00:34):
of sixty sixty one seconds before Charles de Kettelaire scored
his second goal of the night. Now, all eyes definitely
were on Balagan last night after President Trump's controversial intervention
got his red card suspension somewhat lifted. But on the pitch,
the star striker had a night to forget. Locked down
(00:54):
by a ruthless, honestly ruthless Belgian defense, Baligan was limited
to just nineteen touches over ninety minutes. His biggest impact
did come in the first half when he actually pumped
up the crowd and drew that crucial thirty first minute
fel which led to Tillman's free kick goal. And then,
of course other World Cup action over in Los Angeles,
Spain broke Portuguese Hearts with a stunning ninetieth minute stoppage
(01:19):
time winner to knock out Cristiano Ronaldo in a one
to zero thriller. President Trump did weigh in, by the way,
on Truth's social last night bashing they was soccer strategy,
calling the blowout a national embarrassment. Then he kind of
like switched gears and turned his attention to keep his
energy crisis. But nothing to see here, nothing to see here, embarrassment.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Seriously, I mean, it was a bad game. They played
a bad game.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
Well, but he's dissed because he made that call. He
got the red card thing overturned or whatever the proper
terminology for it is, and he thought they were going
to win.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
And then they did it.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
They came out and it looked like the moment was
a little big for them, and then after that goal
to tie things up one one, after Tillman tied it up,
you felt like maybe momentum had changed and Team USA
right back in it. There was a lot of energy
(02:15):
in the stadium. And then, like you said, Natalie, I
think it was, you know, less than a minute later. Yeah,
Belgium takes a two to one lead, and that was
the moment you kind of knew, don't think this is going.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
To be our night.
Speaker 5 (02:27):
And then the mistakes started to pile up and just
that's the thing.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Else.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yeah, it didn't it didn't look good.
Speaker 5 (02:32):
Belgium just completely outplayed an outclass team USA, fourth time
in the last five World Cups that the Americans exited
at the round of sixteen. So obviously you're hoping they
could take the next step in twenty thirty.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
It is a young team.
Speaker 5 (02:47):
I think most of them are going to be back
in a couple of years, so maybe you know, having
this experience. They they played really well up until this
point and then just flowed.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
They let it go, let it go exactly.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
We had that energy that come back back to back
a goal from cape Urd in the other game that
we saw with Argentina. But you know, just Tmusa didn't
have it together, no, no, not what they needed it most.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
And I appeared on News Nation last night on Katie
Pavlich tonight right after the match, because when you think
like instant reaction to a soccer match, you think Ryan
Gorman synonymous some NewsNation having on for some analysis and
(03:32):
also talk about the red car controversy. But I said
at the start of the hit, you do wonder. I
think it's fair to question whether or not this whole
controversy fired Belgium up. Because Belgium hadn't been playing that
great in this World Cup tournament so far, and all
of a sudden they play like they did last night.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
You wonder if there's all something extra.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
I definitely think so. I think they were pissed because
they thought they were going to go into it and
they probably felt like it was unfair the call was
made and then it got turned around because the president
called the head of FIFA.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Of course they were fired up.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (04:04):
Look, players for Team USA said that the controversy surrounding
the red card decision it was not a distraction. Of
course they're going to say that. You can't tell me
that the Balligan wasn't impacted by the whorld win that
he's been dealing with over the past forty eight hours.
I mean, come on, of course it's going to have
an effect. So you wonder if it did impact the match,
(04:27):
and unfortunately not in a great way for Team USA. Look,
I wanted Team USA to win, but just looking at
it objectively, you wonder if this wasn't the best case
scenario for the sport where Belgium they win.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
So there's not this whole thing about Team USA winning
and should they have Yeah.
Speaker 5 (04:53):
Baligan playing in the match and Belgium beat Team USA
with Team USA at full strength, with their full team
and one of their best players on the field. So
you know, now we can all kind of move on.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
I'm still kind of focused on the whole. You know,
there's messy Cristiano and Gorman.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
That's true. That's true. And I like that. I like
how you put me above Beckham too, Thank you. I
appreciate that.
Speaker 5 (05:23):
That is. That is one thing. As good as some
of the players for Team USA.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
R were, we're missing a messy.
Speaker 5 (05:32):
Yeah, this was a match where you needed somebody to
step up and play like a messy and and nobody did. Uh.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
It was very It was a frustrating game. Soccer is
a frustrating sport to watch, you know.
Speaker 5 (05:45):
It kind of the ball's going, it's like it's something
going to happen, and then something does, and then it
takes a while for you know, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
What strategy is. Yeah, it's yeah, Yeah. The crowd was
into It's a great crowd there and set great singing.
Good morning, Natalie, good morning. Well we've got American heartbreak
in Seattle. The US men's national team officially out of
the World Cup brutal floorida one blowout loss to Belgium.
All eyes on val Balligan after the President's political pressure
(06:15):
successfully overturned his red card suspension. Now, he did draw
the massive thirty first minute foul that set up Malick
Tillman's gorgeous free kick equalizer, but other than that, it
was pretty much he was locked down by Belgium's defense.
He managed only nineteen touches before being pretty much subbed
out in stoppage time. The second half total defensive meltdown.
(06:39):
We had US goalie Matt Freeze who was stripped outside
his box too pretty much. Gift wrapped a third Belgian goal.
Then Ramulu Lukaku hammered the final dagger, and the President
he didn't hold back. Late last night he took the
truth social blasting the US soccer strategy, calling it a
national embarrassment. Now, focus though, now shifting to the road
(07:01):
to the trophy, which still runs through Miami. We've got
today at noon Argentina playing Egypt, Columbia battling Switzerland. Saturday,
Miami Stadiums hosting Earling Holland and Norway against England, and
that should be a nail bider.
Speaker 5 (07:15):
It's a shame Team USA's run came to an end,
but they were clearly outmatched. They looked a little bit
nervous at the beginning of the match, and then when
they tied things up one to one, that's what it
felt like, all right, maybe this is what Team USA
needed and they can really pull this thing off.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
And they had a long shot.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
It was pretty much we talked about the bets and
the chances of them even winning before the drama with
the red card.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
It was pretty slim to none to begin with.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
But I mean, they really did drop the ball, and
I think the pressure that was on them just served
to Belgian's silver plate.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
They ran with it.
Speaker 5 (07:56):
Once Team USA tied it up and you felt like
they had a bit of momentum. It's just sixty seconds
later Belgium takes a two to one lead. I mean,
it happened so fast, and in sports that's just a killer.
When when you even things up and it feels like,
all right, maybe now things are moving in the right direction.
And then just moments later, you know, your opponent does
(08:17):
something like that. It just takes the wind right out
of your sales. Yeah, let me talk about the flopping
for a second. The flopping, the flopping, the tiniest bit
of contact and these guys, grown men, they're flailing around
on the ground and pain like it was the middle.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Of the night and they stepped on their kids legos.
Speaker 4 (08:40):
Yes, it was funny because when I went to that
watch party and so this was the first game that
I actually sat and really watched, my friend, who pays
attention to soccer, said, well, this is what they do.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
They're a bunch of babies. Oh my god, like Academy
awards left and right.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
Oh my gosh, they're really hurt. That must have really hurt.
And it was like, no, no, no, it's not really
that bad. They just kind of overreacts all drama.
Speaker 5 (09:02):
Jack Hughes lost his teeth for our men's hockey team
during the Olympics.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Didn't miss it, be right, miss lost his teeth.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
These guys thinking like a stub toe and all.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
My I will say though, that it was Tillman, right,
who in the last match he ended up having a
bloody his foot got stepped on and he went and
kicked a goal anyway, and after he said, it's just pain.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
So I was impressed by that.
Speaker 5 (09:31):
Yeah, but they're always trying to draw. They're always trying
to draw penalty. It's like instead of just playing the game.
And you know, you see this in the NBA too,
It's like they're trying to draw penalty or something instead
of just playing the game. They go down and you know,
it's this big scenetic. It's so dramatic. It's like, oh,
my god, should we give him a red card? Honestly,
(09:54):
the way he's down, maybe we should charge the guy
with assault.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
And it's not even half as bad as it used
to because now we've got those cameras that the refs
carry around, so we're seeing it as it's happening. So
if you focus on the players that go down, they're
only down for a couple of seconds before they actually
get get up. First, it was drama, and now all
of a sudden, I set it off.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Everything is good.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
Back in the day, when we didn't have those cameras,
there was this magic spray that the that the the
crew would come out on the field and spray the
players with it all of a sudden.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
That was the magic spoy that happened.
Speaker 5 (10:23):
Yeah, I noticed that they don't get the call they
were looking for, and then I'm good.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Also, I'll keep playing. That's my big takeaway from watching
the World Cup so far.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Us In Live to have a Ryan Gorman Show on
iHeartRadio every weekday morning on w IOD and Miami, w
f l A and Tampa, presented by Verah and Farah
Accident Attorneys, Tampa,
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