De Ketelaere double sinks USA as Belgium end hosts’ World Cup dream
The Mt Kenya Times 
De Ketelaere
By Norman Mwale
“Even when we scored the goal to make it 1-1 we conceded. It was really tough from the beginning.”
Belgium ended the United States’ World Cup campaign with a ruthless 4-1 victory on Monday at Seattle Field, as Charles De Ketelaere scored twice and the Red Devils exposed every American error to reach the quarter-finals.
In front of 66,867 partisan fans, the hosts started nervously and were punished inside 9 minutes. Nicolas Raskin picked out De Ketelaere with a low cross inside the six-yard box and the forward tapped home to silence the stadium.
The US responded. Malik Tillman levelled in the 31st minute with a free-kick from 25 yards that took a deflection off Hans Vanaken and wrong-footed Thibaut Courtois. The joy lasted barely two minutes. Belgium were back in front in the 33rd minute when De Ketelaere rose to head home Leandro Trossard’s cross at the back post for his second of the night.
The second half was defined by one catastrophic mistake. Goalkeeper Matt Freese came out of his area and lost possession, allowing substitute Hans Vanaken to roll the ball into an empty net in the 57th minute. That error broke the US.
Romelu Lukaku added gloss in stoppage time, the 90th plus 3rd minute, after a poor pass from the American defence put Belgium in.
Mauricio Pochettino was blunt afterwards. “From the beginning, we didn’t connect with the game,” he said. “Even when we scored the goal, 1-1, we conceded in the next action”. “I want to congratulate Belgium. They were better than us. I think it wasn’t our day”. “It wasn’t the performance that we normally play”.
US midfielder Tyler Adams summed up the mood: “In the moments that we were doing well we felt amazing. And then obviously, an opportunity like today, we didn’t grasp it – and it’s gonna sting”.
Belgium were clinical. De Ketelaere was the standout, but Vanaken’s energy off the bench and Lukaku’s late finish underlined their depth. The win sends Belgium into the quarter-finals for the third time in the last four World Cups, where they will face European champions Spain in Los Angeles on Friday.
For the US, the defeat means all three co-hosts are now out. The build-up had been dominated by controversy after FIFA suspended Folarin Balogun’s one-match ban, allowing him to start. But the striker struggled to influence the game as Belgium’s quality told.
The statistics reflected the gulf. Belgium had the better of the chances and punished American mistakes ruthlessly. Pochettino admitted his side must learn. “We need to assess the game and we need to see why we didn’t approach the game in the same way as the rest of the World Cup”.
Belgium march on. The United States go home, their historic run to the Round of 32 followed by a sobering lesson in knockout football.
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