Indy Eleven vs San Antonio - 13.16

Summary

- Opponent: San Antonio FC
- Location: Toyota Field
- Attendance: 6,145
- Final Score: 3-1 L

- Starting XI: Dick, Quinn (C), Craig, Herbert, Kibunguchy, Lindley, O'Brien, J., Omar, Mesanvi, Rendon, Okello

- Substitution: Rasheed 45' (Kibunguchy); Blake 45' (Omar); Neidlinger 45' (Mesanvi); Mitrano 58' (Quinn); Kizza 71' (Okello)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Barry

- Scoring Summary:
SA - Cuello 25' (assist Sorto)
SA - Parano 48' (assist Maldonado)
SA - Parano 70' (assist Hernandez)
IND - O'Brien, J. 90'+4' (assist Herbert)

- Bookings:

SA - Berron 49' (Yellow)
IND - Blake 53' (Yellow)
IND - Mitrano 59' (Yellow)
IND - Quinn 59' (Yellow)

- Referee: Gerald Flores

- Adage goals: One
- Points Lost from Winning Position (Year To Date): 8

Thoughts and Opinions

Coming off a 3-game losing streak (and 4 of the last 5), Indy headed on the road on a Friday night to try and turn their fortunes. Making a trip to San Antonio, who are towards the top of the Western Conference, is not exactly the team you want to see when you're trying to break a losing streak, particularly when your record on the road this season is 0W-2D-5L coming into the game. In a 3-1 loss, Indy's road woes and losing streak continued.

San Antonio dominated the possession early, but mostly in their defensive half of the field. So as the possession differential continued to grow in San Antonio's favor, Indy looked completely comfortable letting the defenders pass amongst themselves. Eventually though, the home sides' midfielders started getting involved and disrupting Indy's mid block, pushing Indy further and further back towards their own goal. Once that happened, Indy's constantly in flux defensive line began to look completely discombobulated on who was marking whom and where each person was supposed to be. In the 25th minute, Indy found themselves in last ditch defending moment after last ditch defending moment until Cuello was able to put one on target that took a slight deflection off Herbert and trickled over the line out of reach of Dick. 

Despite the absolute numbers advantage in their final third, Indy looked disjointed on defense and San Antonio began to find their rhythm. Indy's defense looked out of sync. Indy's offense looked out of sync. Mesanvi was absolute overpowered by Crognale and Suarez as their positioning on the field negated Mesanvi's speed. With the exception of one opportunity for Indy in San Antonio's box where a shot deflected off the crossbar, San Antonio looked to be the better team in the first half and went into the locker room with a deserved 1-nil lead. 

Kibunguchy started in place of Neidlinger, but he also struggled tracking defenders, and he and Okello had passes where they looked like they had iron feet. Before the 40th minute, Coach McAuley had the substitutes warming up, indicating to everyone that he wasn't happy with the performance on the field. Mesanvi, Omar, and Kibunguchy were all subbed out at halftime in place for Neidlinger, Blake, and Rasheed, respectively. 

It didn't matter as San Antonio put a second on the board in the 48th goal. Lindley and Neidlinger got beat at the end line and three different Indy players were nutmegged as the ball, once again, trickled over the line under Dick. They still had to play almost 45 minutes of game, but the second goal made the game feel like it was finished. The third goal in the 70th minute, Parano's second, made the last twenty minutes a formality. San Antonio were the better team and deserved the win. Indy tacked one on late in stoppage time to prevent the clean sheet and demonstrate that they're going to fight until the end, but Indy looked outclassed, out talented, and out hustled tonight.

Indy extend their losing streak to four games. More concerning than the losses is the fact that Indy have scored just three goals in the last six games, being held scoreless in four of them (and almost five if it hadn't been the stoppage time goal tonight to prevent the clean sheet), while conceding nine. The wheels are starting to fall off on both sides of the ball and there isn't much that McAuley can do about it. Some nights it's appeared that Indy just doesn't have the across the board talent to compete with some teams, but the effort has been there. Tonight, both the talent and the effort looked lacking.

Indy return to action on Sunday, August 9th against Hartford who play against Loudoun tomorrow. If Indy wants any chance to stay above the playoff line as the business end of the season starts, they're going to need to win that game. The game will be McAuley's 100th game, making him the longest tenured coach in team history, so the players should have extra motivation to try and get their coach a win on the game when he joins the Century Club. Indy then play this year's doormat Sporting JAX, who are starting to find their way a bit lately. Indy have winnable games coming up, but they're going to have to fix their play on both sides of the ball, and soon, or the season is going to get away from them.

An upcoming Century Club member

A member of the Indy Eleven will join the Century Club in the very near future. No, I'm not talking about Aodhan Quinn, though he should reach the milestone in the game at home against Louisville City on August 22nd. However, a different person will beat him to the punch to joining the Century Club membership.

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

When Indy Eleven take the field at Carroll Stadium for the Sunday evening game against Hartford Athletic, Sean McAuley will officially become the longest tenured coach in Indy Eleven men's history. The Hartford game will be McAuley's 100th game, while Martin Rennie was officially the man in charge for 99 games (he did have one more in-season unofficial friendly game against Detroit City, but those games don't count to players or fans totals, so they don't count for the coaches either). 

How is that possible you might initially ask? Rennie famously quit in the postgame discussion with Greg Rakestraw while in his 4th season, while McAuley is only midway through his 3rd season? Well, McAuley is helped by a good run in the U.S. Open Cup, but also Rennie's 3rd season was the shortened 2020 COVID year. So McAuley has managed to get there in fewer seasons thanks to the season circumstances and some better results in non-league play. 

Regardless, like a few members of this current version of the Indy Eleven men's team, McAuley will find himself at the top of the pile as it relates to games. So I thought it would be a good time to remind fans (and others) what Coach McAuley has achieved in his tenure.

As of right today, McAuley has a 40W-22D-36L record, good for a 40.8% win rate and a 63.3% positive result (win or draw) rate. Rennie's rates were slightly higher (46.0% and 65.0%, respectively), as weas Hankinson's win/draw rate (70.0%), but both were extremely buoyed by a single season. Hankinson's 2016 season had a positive result rate of 81.1% and Rennie's 2019 season had a rate of 72.5% in large part because they had undefeated home records in those seasons. However, Hankinson's 2017 numbers dropped to 57.6% and Rennie's final two seasons dropped to 56.3% and 50.0%. McAuley, conversely, has hovered just under or over 60% for all of his seasons. On a season-by-season basis, McAuley's teams have achieved positive results 67.5% (2024), 59.5% (2025), and 61.9% (2026) of the time. 

Note: both of Hankinson's and Rennie's top seasons included one of the unofficial friendly matches (Pachuca and Detroit City, respectively) and I have included those in my numbers. 

On a Points Per Match perspective, McAuley ranks second to Rennie (1.57 to 1.45). 
On a Goals For per match, McAuley overtakes Rennie 1.44 to 1.36. 

There's a trend when it comes to Indy Eleven coaches. Hankinson's 2016 has been the fan's torch bearer for Indy Eleven men's successful seasons. An undefeated home season. The team's only hardware. That 2016 season has been how all subsequent teams have been judged. Outside of that one season, though, it has been Rennie and McAuley who have been the most consistently successful coaches in the Indy Eleven team history. Depending on the stat, one of those two coaches is the leader. 

Let that sink in. Despite having the lowest player budget in the league this season and against, arguably better competition than those other coaches (Rennie's teams played against the MLS2 teams and Hankinson coached in the NASL, and today's USL Championship is definitely better from top to bottom than what the other Indy teams competed against), Coach McAuley has been the more consistently winning coach in team history. Of the coaches that have had successful tenures in Indy, he is matching or bettering those other season's statistics, including a positive goal differential. 

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

I don't know what McAuley's or the team's plan is for his future in Indianapolis. I think he wants to be back, but in the world of USL, the owners and other teams and a carrousel of players makes it nearly impossible to know what Indy Eleven will look like from year-to-year. If he returns, Indy will continue to have a coach that knows the value of the supporters and will work, with the constraints of what he is given, to provide a team that works hard to give the fans, particularly at home, a winning result. McAuley, above any other coach for the team, understands the value of the Brickyard Battalion and supporters in general, and their connection to the team, players, and culture. McAuley has done what he can do to get the players to understand what they mean to the community.

When I went back and listened to my recording of McAuley's very first meet-and-great with the fans in January 2024, I was struck by his response to Rakestraw's question about what "drew you to this job at this time in USL Championship":

"To start off, I looked at the opportunity. It is very much a MLS club, in the USL It wants to run like one, it wants to act like one, be like one. It has the supporters that can transition to one. And we're really comfortable being in the USL, the one thing we haven't done is won it. And that was attractive because I want to be the first one to do something where it's going to last a long time in the club's history. The other thing I was immediately attracted to was when I spoke to Greg and Ersal, and their vision of where they want the club to go in the future, that was really attractive to me also because their ambition is really strong and it sort of matched mine. And then the values that they have with the club and the supporters and what we want to achieve together, it sort of matched to be a perfect fit. And I looked at the playing squad. And they're pretty good. The returning players, we're really pleased with and then it was up to the staff, and again the ownership, to try and take us a little bit further, and they've done that in support of the new signings we've made. So we're really pleased where we are at the minute, it's not going to stop, everything that keeps progressing keeps progressing my initial reaction was strong and every day's getting stronger."

I would be curious to know how much of that statement McAuley still believes, but at nearly a century of games under his belt for Indy Eleven, I do know that I have valued every interaction I have had with him. I know he wants to make the team, the club, and the players better, and that he values the role that supporters (and guys like me in the media scrum) provide for building a club. 

McAuley is soon to be a welcome addition to the Century Club.

Indy Eleven vs Loudoun United - 13.15

Summary

- Opponent: Loudoun United
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 9,234
- Final Score: 1-0 L

- Starting XI: Dick, Quinn (C), Craig, Herbert, Neidlinger, O'Brien, J., Lindley, Omar, Sharp, Rendon, Okello

- Substitution: Kizza 61' (Sharp), Kibunguchy 61' (Neidlinger); Mesanvi 61' (Omar); Mitrano 75' (Okello)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Rasheed, Williams, K.

- Scoring Summary:
LDN - Aboukoura 60' (assist Awuah)

- Bookings:

IND - Lindley 12' (Yellow)
IND - Neidinger 47' (Yellow)
IND - Herbert 85' (Yellow)

- Referee: Servando Berna Rico

- Adage goals: None
- Points Lost from Winning Position (Year To Date): 8

Thoughts and Opinions

Indy's first home game after the conclusion of the World Cup coincided with the Brickyard 400 activities at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway so while announced attendance was listed as 9,234, it's difficult to definitively determine if there will be any kind of "World Cup bump" as a result of the tournament taking place in the United States. This is Indianapolis, so racing usually takes precedence over most other events in the city, but attendance looked more robust than in recent games. So the announced attendance was likely close to be actual attendance. Unfortunately, the good weather and the good crowd was spoiled by a 1-nil loss despite a fairly dominant performance by Indy. 

The fans in attendance saw a lot of Indy in Loudoun's half of the field early, dictating pace and maintaining possession, something that hasn't been observed much this year. For all the good things they did early, it nearly came undone when Murphy put a shot off the woodwork in the 12th minute and then followed it up with a second shot off the post in the 14th minute. Indy flirted with getting caught with the proverbial "against the run of play" goal by Loudoun, but the game stayed scoreless. After the close calls, the game became a bit more wide open with both teams getting opportunities. The "almost goals" by Loudoun also switched the possession stat, with Indy keeping less of the ball, but the back-and-forth nature of the counterattacking style from both teams meant that the possession stat settled into a near 50/50 value.

Plenty of activity in the first half, including 6 shots on target by Indy Eleven, but the teams took to the halftime locker rooms with a nil-nil score. Bandre had an acrobatic save to prevent a goal by Sharp, but most of Indy's shots weren't that threatening. Loudoun, conversely, officially didn't have a shot on target, but two balls off the woodwork felt much more likely to get the scoring started. 

I hate to say it, and I don't like doing it for a player of his age and experience, but I'm starting to worry about Neidlinger's progression as a player, at least defensively. There were frequent moments tonight where he felt like a liability on the right side of the field. It seemed like he was too easily bypassed, while also needing to grab jerseys as his attacker made it around him far too easily. One of those last-ditch efforts resulted in his yellow card mere seconds into the second half. I can only hope he gets better, and there aren't a lot of options at this point, but the immediate concern is that teams are going to start to key in on him, particularly when he runs forward as part of the attack. It's good he has some speed and the youth to run non-stop.

In a game where both teams look to counter, at some point one of those teams is going to find a goal. In the 60th minute, the first team to find a goal was Loudoun as the right side of the Indy defense broke down and Aboukoura, while falling down, put a chipped ball over Dick that snuck just inside the post. It doesn't have to look pretty, but the ball went in the goal for the game winner after a defensive mistake from Indy.  

Coach McAuley immediately made substitutions to get fresh legs, and speed, onto the field and Indy then began to turn the screw on Loudoun's defense. Despite the mostly one-way traffic towards Loudoun's end after the goal and the substitutions, Bandre's 9-save night was enough for the visitors to come away with the victory. 

Indy Eleven was absolutely abysmal in front of goal to keep the home fans from celebrating a win. On a night where 7 of the 11 games that were played resulted in the home team losing, Indy continued the league-wide trend on the night, but lost a chance to edge closer to the top of the table, again, with games to play. 

Coach McAuley stated after the game that they were going to need to look at the video to fully understand what happened tonight to determine whether "it was a lack of talent or if it just wasn't our night." Given the number of losses to home teams around the league, maybe there was just a "not our night" aspect to it, but watching the game, it feels impossible that Indy could get at least one goal from the multiple opportunities they had from close range. Bandre had a few good saves, but some of Indy's inability to score was based entirely on their struggle to get the ball out of their feet. 

Despite a 3-game losing streak, at the halfway point of the season, this is just Indy's first home loss. Yes, it would be great to make Carroll a fortress again, to win against the teams lower in the table, and to get better results on the road, but everything is still in front of them. With games in hand, Indy is only 3 points behind 4th place Louisville and 6 points behind 2nd place Charleston. With the lowest budget in the league, a constant reshuffling of lineups due to injuries (or national team callups or other factors), if you ask me, Coach McAuley has worked miracles getting this team into this position. The Cup runs weren't great, but the home league form has been really good, especially on a field that has historically been complained about by team after team, coach after coach.

Indy travel to San Antonio for a Friday night contest against one of the top teams in the Western Conference so they're going to need to find their finishing form again. After being held scoreless just twice in the first 10 games, Indy have been held without a goal in 4 of the last 5 games. That's going to need to get resolved quickly or they will continue to slide down the table and they're already teetering on falling below the playoff line.

Game Beckons Game Ball

I could probably do this more times each season, but I try to spread around the GBGB a little. However, Lindley always stands out for me. Lindley does a little bit of everything for this team. Energy. Restarts. Often dropping back deeper than the centerbacks to get the offense going again. Cam usually puts balls in positions where guys can do something with it (ironically as I typed that, he put a ball out of reach of Kibunguchy, but he's not perfect). Sometimes, and last night was one of those times, there were moments where it felt like Lindley was the only one who understood the assignment. Down a goal, time running out, against a team with a low block, you have to give yourself opportunities in front of goal. That often means quick restarts to catch the opponent before the defense gets reset or continually sending in crosses to get the ball in dangerous places. Lindley can often look like a guy with his hair on fire because he's all over the field, but if you blew the whistle and told every player to stop immediately and for Cam to close his eyes and tell you where players are located, I bet he could do a good job. He's constantly moving, constantly scanning for the next pass, the next corridor for the ball to go. And he's an Indy guy so the losses seem to affect him more than some of the others. Cam definitely gets tonight's GBGB.

Photos - Don Thompson Photography

Indy Eleven vs Detroit City FC - 13.14

Summary

- Opponent: Detroit City FC
- Location: Keyworth Stadium
- Attendance: 6,509
- Final Score: 2-0 L

- Starting XI: Dick, Quinn (C), Craig, Rasheed, Neidlinger, O'Brien, J., Lindley, Blake, Mesanvi, Rendon, Okello

- Substitution: Omar 57' (Blake); Mitrano 57' (Mesanvi); Sharp 74' (Okello); Herbert 74' (Craig)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Kibunguchy, Williams, K.

- Scoring Summary:
DET - Mentzingen 47' (assist Stanley)
DET - Rodriquez 52' (assist Mentzingen)

- Bookings:

DET - Rodriquez 11' (Yellow)
DET - Yamazaki 35' (Yellow)
DET - Diouf 55' (Yellow)
IND - Rasheed 83' (Yellow)
IND - Rendon 87' (Yellow)
IND - Lindley 89' (Yellow)
IND - Mitrano 90'+3' (Yellow)

- Referee: Joshua Encarnación

- Adage goals: Two
- Points Lost from Winning Position (Year To Date): 8

Thoughts and Opinions

The lead-up to this game for most fans was likely the England vs France World Cup game that was, in a word, bonkers. The third place match had just about everything the casual fan hopes to see and what every soccer sicko relishes whenever it happens. 10 goals. 20 shots on target. A hat trick. An epic first half by one team followed by an epic comeback by the other team in the second half. England jumped out to a 4-nil lead by halftime and France clawed their way back to 4-3 before England added a 5th, only to see France get one more in stoppage to make it 5-4. Bellingham put the nail in the coffin in the 90'+8' minute with a 6th and final goal to make one of the most interesting and unique games of the World Cup. For me, England playing Mexico in Mexico City is one of the best games of the World Cup, but their 3rd place match is right up there.

Indy and Detroit fans then watched this game.

Interesting to watch but in a different way. Smaller, turf field. Ten times fewer fans. Good and great players giving it their all compared to great and elite players. That talent difference though leads to more poor touches, last ditch defending, missed finishes, missed headers, or slow reactions. 

That last one was what happened to get Detroit on the board early in the second half when Mesanvi was caught ball watching and Mentzingen got to the ball first to get the ball passed Dick. An adage goal amount of time later and Rodriquez doubled the scoring when a missed header by Okello fell to Maxi who one-timed it in to the goal. With fine margins, it's the simple mistakes and simple acts of doing things right that wins and loses games at this level.

Despite a 7-save night from Dick, Detroit found the goal twice and picked up the win in a feisty, hard-fought game. The four-ish hours of soccer that fans watched tonight were vastly different in how they looked, but for soccer sickos (like anybody that is actually reading this), soccer is soccer and somehow we keep coming back to watch it. England, France, Detroit, or Indy. Somehow we can't get enough of it. I would have liked to see Indy get the win in Detroit, but I was able to watch 4 hours of weirdly entertaining soccer.

Indy return to action next Saturday against Loudoun. I assume I'll see some of my fellow sickos at Carroll Stadium ready to watch two teams in the middle to lower part of the Eastern Conference of a second division league in the United States compete for a chance to not get left out of the league's playoffs in the fall. 

Indy Eleven vs Miami FC - 13.13

Summary

- Opponent: Miami FC
- Location: South Dade Kia Field at Pitbull Stadium
- Attendance: 611
- Final Score: 2-0 L

- Starting XI: Dick, Quinn (C), Barry, Rasheed, Neidlinger, O'Brien, J., Lindley, Blake, Mesanvi, Rendon, Okello

- Substitution: Omar 63' (Mesanvi); Sharp 63' (Okello); Williams, K. 71' (Blake); Kibunguchy 71' (Rasheed)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Craig, Mitrano

- Scoring Summary:
MIA - 44' da Costa (assist Sonora)
MIA - 76' Locadia (assist Milesi)

- Bookings:

MIA - Sonora 74' (Yellow)

- Referee: Calin Radosav

- Adage goals: One
- Points Lost from Winning Position (Year To Date): 8

Thoughts and Opinions

It's no secret, and I have said it more than a few times on this site, that Indy's announced attendance are generously elevated from actual attendance. Miami's announced attendance was 611 and I'm not sure how you can argue that number from what was visible in the telecast. At one point early, it sounded like there might be some fans in the stands with organized chants (maybe some Indy fans?), but even they gave up the effort and the crowd noise became almost non-existent in this game.

Within the first few minutes of the telecast, the color commentary person (sorry, I missed his name) for the game called Indy's style of play "ugly." Let's call it pragmatic or calculated. Indy know their strengths and weaknesses and don't care too much about what you think is "beautiful" soccer. You want to win the possession battle, fine. You want to pass it around at midfield or in your half, fine. A win is beautiful. 

However you get there. Miami got there, Indy didn't, but I'm not as definitive as he was that it was because Miami had a prettier style of play.

As much as he wanted to describe Miami's style as prettier, Miami took a page out of Indy's book and after a good spell of possession from Indy, counterattacked quickly and found a goal right before halftime to give Miami the lead at the break. The second goal was the same. Locadia picked up a ball on a long break after a missed header in their defensive half and attacked the goal. Locadia put Barry on skates, cut the ball back in towards the middle of the field, and then curled a shot around Dick. Miami's goals were scored from the same "ugly" style that was given to Indy when the game started.

I understand that Miami is no longer the nearly guaranteed win that it used to be a couple of seasons ago, but Indy never really looked like they were going to win this game. The stats show that it might have been closer, but the eyeball test really put this one firmly in Miami's favor. Regardless of style. They just seemed like the team that might be able to do more with their style than Indy.

Indy gets a 2-nil loss from goals that utilized their style. The soccer gods are a fickle bunch. Indy have to take this loss and travel to Detroit on the weekend which is never an easy place to play. As was repeatedly stated during the broadcast, Indy still have games in hand on every team except for Rhode Island. The question now is whether Indy does enough with those games in hand or does the perpetual reshuffling of lineups due to injuries (Kibunguchy was officially signed yesterday and played 20 minutes...though to be fair, I had heard rumor of a signing last week) finally catch up with them?

Soccer in the United States - A Fan's Perspective (Post 2026 World Cup Exit)

What's wrong with the USMNT.

I say that not with a question mark but with a period because I know. I know what's wrong with the USMNT.

The problem is...

You know what? Before I tell you what's wrong, let's back up a little.

As I'm writing this, it's been just a few days since the United States Men's National Team exited the stage that is the FIFA World Cup with a 4-1 defeat to Belgium in the Round of 16 in Seattle. I would say that it's because I didn't want to write my immediate emotions, but I was atypically calm about the entire game. I do like to do some research though and the past few days have provided that chance. 

The USMNT won their group stage after just their second game, winning both of their first two group stage games against Paraguay (a 4-1 victory in Los Angeles) and Australia (a 2-nil victory in Seattle) before losing to Turkiye (a 3-2 loss back in L.A.) while resting most of their starters. The US then played Bosnia and Herzogovina, getting a 2-nil victory in the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium. 

In that game against Bosnia and Herzogovina, USMNT player Folarin Balogun was issued a red card based on a VAR review of a moment between Balogun and Muharemović which determined that Balogun's inadvertent stepping on Muharemović's ankle was a reckless challenge. The USMNT played the final 26' + 11' of stoppage time down a man, but extended their lead from 1-nil before Balogun's ejection to 2-nil on a magical free kick by Tillman from just outside the penalty area. 

In the ensuing days, people discussed whether it was or wasn't a red card, could the USMNT appeal the card or not, and generally is VAR helping or hindering the sport these days. There seemed to be a general consensus from the broadcast personnel and their "Soccer Rules Analysts" that VAR likely broke protocol by showing Brazilian official Raphael Claus the still images of the exchange between Balogun and Muharemović before showing the full speed exchange. So Belgium and USMNT players prepared for their game without Balogun. Until Sunday, when it was announced that his red card would be suspended for the game with a 1-year probation period to follow. Rumors and reports followed consisting of the President of the United States making a call to FIFA President Infantino to look into the red card. Suddenly, and surprisingly, the USMNT's top scorer was back in play.

Belgium then went out and bossed the USMNT all over the field, getting their first goal just 9 minutes into the first half. The USMNT would claw one back in the 31st minute, again from a Tillman free kick, only to concede minutes later to go back down. Mauricio Pochettino had tried to change the momentum by making a substitution at halftime, but to only moderate and temporary success. Belgium would add a third goal in the second half on a spectacular mistake from USMNT GK Freese, and would then tack on a fourth in stoppage time from second half substitute Lukaku just for good measure, emphatically putting an exclamation point on the domination of the game. Christian Pulisic left the game minutes after Belgium's third goal with a leg injury (now reported as a bone bruise and microfracture).

Which is where we find ourselves today. Talking about a USMNT that, once again, made it to the Round of 16 but no further. 

So what's wrong with the USMNT?

If you've listened to the talking heads (including many former players) and the internet, everything. I've heard:

• Pulisic didn't step up. As "Captain America," people expected more from him. He needed to play injured.
• Pochettino didn't select or play the right players and/or didn't make the right tactical decisions, including his decision to not play the starters in the third group stage game.
• Balogun's red card was a distraction.
• The President of the United States messed with the soccer gods and karma struck back immediately.
• This "golden generation" of soccer players for the USMNT just don't have the fight, the mentality to compete against the top teams in the world.
• The US wasn't sufficiently tested in the lead-up to the World Cup because they were automatic qualifiers.
• The United States' youth development program is a shambles and worthless.
• The United States doesn't have its best athletes playing soccer, they're playing other sports like football, basketball, baseball...
• We call it soccer instead of football.
• We don't have promotion/relegation in the country.
• Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

The answer to what's wrong with the USMNT. It's really easy. 

NOBODY REALLY F**KING KNOWS!

Why would I know the answer? I'm just a guy who writes about his local club for the past baker's dozen years, but has played the game, refereed the game, coached the game (albeit to little kids), watched the game, and discussed the game for nearly the entirety of my life. So I do have some thoughts.

Maybe it's a little bit of all those things in that list. Maybe not, and in some cases, probably or definitely not. It takes some legit mental gymnastics to buy into the "best athletes are playing other sports" thing when arguably one of the greatest to ever play the game is 5'-7" and 150 lbs. Messi doesn't fit the "best athletes" physique those folks have in mind, but there's no denying his ability, skill, and instinct around the goal. The karma thing could be real though. As we like to say in America for other sports, "ball don't lie." Getting politicians involved messed with the karma. I have sports superstitions so I can buy into that one.

Maybe it's as simple as the United States played a bad game against a good team at the wrong time and they were beaten. Having lost to Belgium earlier this year, albeit with some slightly different players, lends credit to the fact that maybe the USMNT just didn't match up well against this Belgium team.

Maybe Belgium took the momentum from their late comeback win against Senegal and the anger/frustration about the Balogun reinstatement and used it all as fuel to play the kind of soccer a Top 10 ranked team can play despite having some struggles in the group stage.

Maybe, and I'm just spit balling here, maybe it's really difficult to win in world soccer. 

Maybe, just maybe, the top teams in the world are the top teams in the world for a reason. Maybe they've just been able to pull all the right strings together to get the right resources with the right players at the right time with the right culture to consistently win games. Maybe that's not easy to duplicate even with some number of any of those factors aligning for other countries.

The World Cup has been played 22 times before this iteration. Eight (8) countries have won it. Eight. 

• Brazil (5 - 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)
• Germany (4 - 1954, 1974, 1990, 2014)
• Italy (4 - 1934, 1938, 1982, 2006)
• Argentina (3 - 1978, 1986, 2022)
• France (2 - 1998, 2018)
• Uruguay (2 - 1930, 1950)
• England (1 - 1966)
• Spain (1 - 2010)
• And only 5 other countries have ever made the final game (Netherlands runners-up 3 times, Hungary 2 times, Czechoslovakia 2 times, and Sweden and Croatia 1 time each)

Let's look at this another way. Looking at the official FIFA rankings from June 11th, right before the start of the World Cup, 30 of the top 34 teams in the world made it into the expanded field of 48, with only Italy (ranked 12th), Denmark (21st), Nigeria (26th), and Ukraine (32nd) not making it into the tournament. There were 6 additional teams inside the top 50 of the rankings, with the final 12 teams consisting of teams at a ranking of 50 or higher (Uzbekistan at 50 up to New Zealand at 85). For refence, the United States came into the tournament ranked at 17th.

Digressing slightly, Italy is a four-time winner and didn't even make it into the field. Since they won in 2006, they've exited the tournament twice in the group stage, and haven't qualified the past 3 tournaments. Germany is also a four-time winner and after winning it in 2014 didn't make it out of the group stage in 2018 or 2022 and lost in the Round of 32 this year. And US fans were upset about missing the 2018 tournament...

Back to my larger point, in the Round of 32, there were four teams that were ranked in the Top 32 that didn't advance: Uruguay (16th), Iran (20th), Turkiye (22nd), and South Korea (25th). So those four plus the four that didn't even make the tournament, otherwise 24 of the 32 positions were filled by countries that were ranked in those positions pre-tournament. The other 8 positions in the Round of 32 were rounded out by teams ranging from the Ivory Coast (33rd) to Ghana (73rd). 

Favorites vs Underdogs Results

The Round of 16 was filled by 10 teams that were ranked in the Top 16. The United States (17th), Switzerland (19th), Egypt (29th), Canada (30th), Norway (31st), and Paraguay (41st) made it into the Round of 16 from outside the Top 16 rankings. 

Of the Round of 32 games, only Paraguay's win over Germany (9th) was from a team with a lower ranking. From the Round of 16 games, only Norway's (31st) win over Brazil (6th) and Switzerland's (19th) win over Columbia (13th) were games with wins by the lower ranked team. 15 of the 16 Round of 32 games were won by the higher ranked team, and 6 of the 8 Round of 16 games were won by the higher ranked team. The above image was created before the France/Morocco game, but that one also was won by the higher ranked team, France.

As we like to say here in Indiana during the NCAA March Madness tournament, this World Cup is "going chalk." The higher seeded teams are generally winning when they need to win. Sure, there have been some amazing games. Argentina has been pushed to the brink twice by significant "underdogs." England v Mexico is probably still my favorite game of the tournament so far. But the higher seed has prevailed most of the time.

The United States (17th) played to chalk too. They beat a Paraguay (41st) team 24 spots behind them. Chalk. 

They beat an Australian (27th) team ten spots behind them. Chalk. 

They lost to a Turkiye (22nd) team five spots behind them in the rankings after conceding a 90'+8' goal. So they nearly got a draw from that game with a highly rotated squad. Almost Chalk. 

They beat Bosnia and Herzegovina (64th) despite being a man down for a significant portion of the second half and stoppage time. Chalk. 

The lost to Belgium (9th). Chalk.

Like most USMNT fans, I was disappointed and frustrated at the loss on Monday night to Belgium. "It's the hope that kills you," right? I let myself get excited for the "why not US" propaganda that FOX has been feeding us because of how well the US was playing in the early games of the group stage and that they overcame the struggle of the red card to still advance. Like most soccer fans in this country, I wanted to see them get over the Round of 16 hump, but it just didn't happen. However, I didn't feel like the sky was falling Monday night and I still don't think the sky is falling today. I think the USMNT got outplayed by a better team, which has been a theme for much of this tournament. Cape Verde gave Argentina as much as they could handle, and Egypt did the same until Argentina's class finally kicked in in the 79th minute, but with only a couple of exceptions, the world class teams have come through each time in this World Cup.

So where does that put us as it relates to the USMNT?

Last year, I wrote an article about my local club, Indy Eleven, where I discussed Expectations versus Reality. With very little effort, what I wrote about Indy Eleven can apply to the USMNT, so I'll reiterate it here with the appropriate edits:

I have had versions of this conversation over the years with various people, but the following quote has been the most eloquent way I have heard to say it: "Conflict arises when expectations exceed reality."

There's an expectation that Indy the USMNT is one of the top clubs teams in the league world. As a result, there is an expectation that Indy the USMNT should be consistently at the top of the standings and winning most of their games. When that doesn't happen, people want to blame the coaches or the players or any number of reasons for them not meeting the expectation. The reality is that Indy (not counting the USL W league team or the Academy teams)  the USMNT has only had a modicum of success, spread out over just a few seasons in the twelve-year history of the team tournaments. Indy The USMNT have a history of expectations exceeding reality. While this year's team is underperforming based on last year's results, t The reality is that they're right where history has told us this team will be: 

With the exception of the 2018 World Cup that the US didn't qualify to play in, the team has only not made it out of the group stage once since their quarterfinal run in 2002 (exited in the group stage in 2006), and have been a consistent fixture in the Round of 16 (4 out of 4 times they've been in the tournament). The expectation was that they should be progressing further than their predecessors because they're the "golden generation," the best the United States has ever fielded. The reality is that while this team improved, they're not the only ones. It's not a stagnant finish line that they're chasing. The other countries in the world have a say in this too.

So where does the USMNT go from here? Tuesday was officially Day 1 of the next World Cup cycle. 

Will Pochettino be around? His contract with the USMNT has expired but the US Soccer Federation has offered him an extension through the 2030 World Cup. Whether he takes it or moves on is still to be determined.  

What players from this team continue to be part of it? The average age of the team was 26-years old so there are clearly some players who will be age eligible to continue their time on the team. At 38 years old now, Tim Ream is, likely, not one of those players, but nobody thought he would be there this time. Cristian Roldan will be 35 years old so maybe he's not in the mix either. Matt Turner will be 36, but goalkeepers age differently in this sport so he might be a possibility, but he wasn't even the starter for this World Cup. After that though, every other single player on this roster will be in their late 20s or early 30s. 

I can hear some of you now, get rid of all of them. Why would we keep trying to use players that can't get it done? "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Because until some players step up and displace them, they were determined by Pochettino to be the best (or healthiest at the selection time) available. As I argued in my earlier Expectations vs Reality article for Indy Eleven, the USMNT have talented players. Saying they don't is foolish and you're basing your opinion on the last result, which for 47 of the 48 teams in this tournament will not be as World Cup winners. When healthy, Pulisic is still a dynamic player. In the first two games, Weston McKennie was the engine that drove the team. Tyler Adams covers a lot of mistakes that others make. Freeman, Tillman, Balogun. All of those players deserve to make a case for themselves, and I think they will all continue to be part of the team for the foreseeable future. Whether that extends to 2030 will be dependent on who steps in, steps up, and takes their positions from them.

I don't think he was fully healthy, but I think there's going to be a place on the team for a guy like Diego Luna. He's fearless, which can be enough to unsettle opposing defenders. Much like Emma Hayes has done for the USWNT, the early stages of this new World Cup cycle should be met with bringing in a lot of players from wherever they can find them. At one point last year, Hayes had given 32 players their first cap. The old guard is starting to give way to the new guard, and I know there are players around the country (or playing in other countries) that deserve the chance. I just assume that the men's team's old guard aren't quite ready to concede their positions yet. 

Though given the vitriol I've seen towards some of them lately, I don't know why they would want to continue to put themselves through this shit. It's a lot of fans' prerogative, but if you're an American wanting them to fail, then you and I are on different wavelengths on what we think is good for the sport. 

Which gets me to my final point.

Go support soccer. Call it soccer if you want. Call it football if you want. Find a team, preferably local because there are plenty of them at all levels of the US Soccer pyramid, and go to games. Watch games on television or the internet. Find a foreign club if that works for you (I support Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership).

Some of you may have found soccer for the first time in any real way with this World Cup. Welcome. Welcome to the madness. Try to not let some of the gatekeepers hold you back. If you have questions about the game, there's somebody, not a gatekeeper, who is more than willing to share their knowledge with you about the game. To talk about the game. To laugh and cry about the game. 

I've explained it a few times on this site over the years about how I arrived at the name of my site, the Game Beckons, but I'll summarize it again here.

I had reread Finding the Game: Three Years, Twenty-five Countries, and the Search for Pickup Soccer, by Gwendolyn Oxenham and watched the companion documentary Pelada, when I was thinking about names for my site. I remembered a quote from Luke when they were in Marseille, France, when Gwendolyn writes the exchange in the book (the same exchange occurs in the film):

"Five or six games stretch across the park. We stand there watching, weighing, still wondering whether or not the jersey once belonged to Drogba. A ball skips towards us. Luke takes off after it and volleys it back. He's quiet for a second. Then he says, "When the ball comes toward me, I consider the game beckoning me - the game wants me."

There's another point in the book where Gwendolyn writes about an exchange while they were in Italy talking to a writer, Cristiano, who reads from his own book and then helps them understand his meaning (emphasis mine):

"He pours us grappa and translates the meaning, hands gesturing, "It is a story about an old man who imagines what he'll say to his grandson...that there is a god for the soccer fields, a kind of magic. Not the big ones - the small ones in the provinces." Head cocked to the side, he smiles, shyly like he's telling us something personal, emotional: "Soccer will give you much more than you can give it."

Soccer in the United States is going to be fine. It might not be the meteoric rise that some would like of it, but the USMNT will get better. I believe they will eventually make it beyond the Round of 16 again. They might also not qualify again. Germany and Italy have proven how hard qualifying and performing in the World Cup can be. 

I, personally, believe that the USMNT will get better. But I plan to be here either way.   

If the World Cup beckoned to you, enjoy it. As somebody who has continued to have the game beckon to me for the past 50 years, I agree with Luke and Cristiano. The game will beckon you and it will give you more than you give it. That I can promise you is true.

Indy Eleven vs Charleston Battery - 13.12

Summary

- Opponent: Charleston Battery
- Location: Carroll Stadium
- Attendance: 8,143
- Final Score: 2-0 W

- Starting XI: Dick, Quinn (C), Barry, Rasheed, Neidlinger, Lindley, O'Brien, J., Blake, Omar, Rendon, Okello

- Substitution: Sharp 65' (Omar); Mesanvi 81' (Okello)

- Unused: Charles-Cook, Kizza, Lowden, Mitrano, Williams, K.

- Scoring Summary:
IND - O'Brien, J. 82' (assist Rasheed)
IND - Rendon 90'+4' (assist Blake)

- Bookings:

CHS - Kelly 18' (Yellow)
IND - Quinn 35' (Yellow)
IND - Blake 36' (Yellow)
CHS - Smith 68' (RED)
CHS - Kissiedou 90'+2' (Yellow)

- Referee: Matt Thompson

- Adage goals: None
- Points Lost from Winning Position (Year To Date): 8

Thoughts and Opinions

Indy Eleven have played two other times on the Fourth of July. The first time was in 2017, a 1-1 draw at the New York Cosmos. The second time was in 2018, when the Ottawa Fury came into a sweltering Lucas Oil Stadium and beat Indy 0-1 due to an Own Goal by Mitchell. The night concluded with an open north window at LOS and fans able to hang out in the stadium and watch the downtown fireworks. The goalkeeper that night for Ottawa was Crepeau, who saw his World Cup run with Canada come to an end today against Morocco an hour before Indy's start time tonigh. Today, Indy instead decided to do The Fourth at Four, with game time bumped up three hours from the normal 7:00 start to 4:00, presumably to allow fans to get to any Fourth of July fireworks festivities with their families, but it also meant that fans and players were in an absolutely brutal afternoon heat of 90-degrees F and 50% humidity giving a feels like temperature of 98-degrees. The fans that braved the heat, and there weren't that many of them (regardless of what the announced attendance indicated), were treated to a 2-nil victory against one of the best teams in the league.

The game felt to me a lot like the friendly against Pachuca in June of 2016. That day, temperatures were in the low 90s, with a start time of 1:30. That day, I had measured the temperature of the turf with a baking thermometer, which pegged at 137-degrees. Water bottles were spread out around the field, but I remember watching as many players spray their boots with the water as they did actually drink the water. The turf has been changed since then, but I doubt that the new version is any cooler than it was that day. Following the World Cup's lead, midway through both halves, both teams walked over to the benches for a hydration break to replenish the fluids that the heat was taking out of everybody.

The first half progressed much like you might expect from a Charleston team in form and an Indy team who has been forced to rotate their backline as injuries continue to be an issue for the team. Charleston dominated possession (70/30 ratio), and dominated it in reasonably dangerous locations, getting 10 shots, but just 1 shot on target that was straight at Dick. Indy's restructured backline generally stayed home with rare overlapping runs from Neidlinger or Quinn because of the need to keep Charleston in front of them and not over-exert themselves due to the heat. Indy's forays into the Charleston half weren't overly frequent, but did manage to have some potential options, including a goal pulled back due to an offside, something that both teams had in the half. The two teams sniffed at getting the scoring started, but instead went into the halftime locker room with a nil-nil score line.

Photo: Don Thompson Photography

As the game crept toward the 60th minute, Charleston's attack began to show itself with two close calls. For chunks of the game, it looked like the game was going to finish with either a nil-nil result or possibly just a one-goal differential. Charleston's flurry of shots in that portion of the game made it look like it was likely to be Charleston that got that break-through goal and not Indy. The 68th minute red card to Charleston's Smith, after he pulled down second-half substitute Sharp who had been sent through the lines by Neidlinger, changed that feeling with 22 minutes with a man-advantage for Indy. Neidlinger has been thrust into his role due to the back line injuries, and he's still a young player growing into his skills. Today, though, he had some nervy moments on the right side as he lost his man or overran them. He'll eventually get better, but a team of Charleston's talent had moments against him that could have gone poorly for Indy. Yet it was his ball that put the team in a position to get points out of the game against one of the best teams in the league, and one of the most in form teams.

Charleston came into the game against Indy in spectacular form. They were undefeated in 5 games, and with their 4-1 victory against Loudoun United last week, equaled a record for most goals in a 3-game span with 14 goals. They tied the record with...themselves. The 2024 squad also scored 14 goals in a 3-game span, starting from a 4-2 victory against...Indy. Colton Swan has scored 7 goals in the league and 10 across all competitions. Maalique Foster had scored in 4 consecutive games coming into tonight's game, his longest scoring streak in the USL Championship. Indy managed to keep them scoreless tonight.

Indy has had some rough results against Charleston in the past with a 4W-7L-2D record against the Battery, and hadn't beaten Charleston since 2023. Cards change games, and Smith's deserved red card in the 68th minute did exactly that. There aren't a lot of the game stats that point to an Indy victory, other than Indy's ability to get their shots on target at a higher rate than the Battery. Indy didn't have as many chances, but they did a better job of converting their chances. The red card also allowed Indy to hold onto the ball more and stifle the attack that Charleston had going for them before the ejection.

Indy continues to have games in hands on all the teams above them and don't have another game until the 15th. Indy has a definite back-loaded schedule so it's good they can get results like tonight despite the heat. Indy return to action in a week and a half on the road against Miami who play tomorrow and then next week in the Prinx Tires USL Cup, which Indy no longer has to deal with due to completing their group stage games and not advancing in the tournament. How Indy survives the back-loaded schedule with the continued string of injuries is going to go a long way to determining whether this team exceeds the preseason expectations of them being a fringe playoff team.

Game Beckons Game Ball

This afternoon's GBGB goes to a player whose stats don't exactly pop off the page; just 2 of 5 duels won and 1 of 4 aerial duels won. However, Barry was averaging less than 16 minutes per game and always late in the game. Due to the injury to Paco Craig, tonight was Barry's first start and he had to go the full 90 minutes. Against a team with as much offensive power as Charleston, and with as few minutes as he's played this year, Barry did as well as a job as possible. It might not always be the best factor in who gets the GBGB, but I think it's as valid a reason as any tonight. As each injury has occurred this season, it's been the "next man up" mentality and this afternoon's next man up was Barry.