USMNT player ratings vs Belgium: Christian Pulisic, Sergino Dest and Matt Freese among strugglers as World Cup ends in familiar Round of 16 pain | Goal.com

SEATTLE -- In the end, the U.S. Men's National Team's World Cup run didn't come crashing down in one instant, but in several. It ended Monday in Seattle, falling apart at the seams slowly but surely in a way that seemed so unlikely given everything we'd seen before. That's because this game, a 4-1 Round of 16 loss to Belgium, was unlike any of the previous four. In those games, the USMNT was ruthless; in this one, they were overwhelmed. In those games, the USMNT was full of energy; in this one, they looked collectively flat. And, most importantly, in those games, the USMNT played mistake-free soccer. In this one, there was no shortage of mistakes to go around. The first one came early. After an attempted Alex Freeman clearance, several USMNT defenders watched as the ball bounced inside their own box. Nicolas Raskin floated in, took the gift, and centered a pass to Charles De Ketelaere for a simple tap-in just nine minutes in. It was far too easy. For Belgium, it would only get easier. Just seconds after the USMNT equalized from a Malik Tillman free kick in the 31st minute, De Ketelaere went right back down on the other side, jumping over Tim Ream to smash home a towering header to restore Belgium's advantage. Even after the USMNT added new life after halftime, Belgium never looked back, getting their third on a Matt Freese howler that left Hans Vanaken with an open goal. Romelu Lukaku's stoppage-time knife-twist was little more than that, then, as he made it 4-1. Everything seemed to go wrong for the USMNT. The performance was flat, despite the best efforts of the Seattle crowd. Christian Pulisic tried his best - at times too hard - but was nowhere near his best before an injury ended his day early. Sergino Dest played his worst game of the tournament, and a defense and goalkeeper Matt Freese, earmarked as weak points for so long, finally gave the critics ammunition. The substitutes brought little, although, in truth, several of them came on only after mistakes had already ensured the game was gone. For the U.S., this was the nightmare scenario. After weeks of winning hearts and 24 hours as the World Cup's biggest villain, everything, to put it simply, fell apart. In the hours and days to come, there will be explanations and discussions about why. On this day, though, all that mattered was the result. It wasn't good enough and, as a result, it could be argued that this World Cup wasn't, either. Despite all this group showed in the group stage and Round of 32, they once again came undone in the Round of 16 in familiar fashion: a top European opponent, a cruel goal and an otherwise large gulf in class. Harsh? Yes, but Monday was another reminder that World Cups are harsh, unforgiving and, in the case of this game, undone in both an instant and slowly with too many moments of pain along the way. GOAL rates the USMNT's players from Seattle...