USA goalkeeper says World Cup error hurts more than any moment in life

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SEATTLE — U.S. men's national team goalkeeper Matt Freese was despondent after his error against Belgium helped endure his team's World Cup elimination.

The U.S. trailed 2-1 early in the second half of Monday's World Cup round of 16 match when disaster struck at the back.

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Freese came out of his box to cut out a long pass and chested the ball down. But with Charles De Ketelaere putting pressure on, the goalkeeper fatally hesitated. De Ketelaere blocked Freese's attempted pass and the ball deflected right to Hans Vanaken, who finished from long range with Freese out of the net.

Belgium's third goal took the wind out of the USMNT's sails. Down two goals, the U.S. never again looked like it would recover and conceded a late fourth in a devastating 4-1 defeat to end the tournament.

Freese, of course, was far from the only culprit on the night. Almost every USMNT player looked out of sorts as Belgium had more energy and desire. But the goalkeeper knew that his mistake had been a significant blow.

"I'm obviously disappointed for my error in judgment," he said. "I know the guys in front of me did everything they could today to get the win and I'm so proud of them. I wish that moment was different and wish the result was different."

On the moment he lost the ball, Freese said: "I felt [De Ketelaere] so close, I thought he was going to kick my leg, and so I tried to get out of it."

Freese entered the World Cup as one of the USMNT's biggest question marks, having only won the starting goalkeeper job last year.

The New York City FC shot-stopper had a strong tournament on the whole, making nearly every save expected of him including a few excellent ones. Freese saved the U.S. early in Monday's game, making an outstanding stop on a long-range effort from Timothy Castagne.

But the moment in the second half was weighing heavily on Freese, who attempted to put a positive spin on a mistake that will be hard to put behind him.

"This hurts," he said. "This moment hurts more than probably any other moment in my life. But I know that this is a step in a longer journey, and I know that there's big things to come from this federation and from this group."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: USA goalkeeper says World Cup error hurts more than any moment in life

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