U.S. Soccer Team Prays After World Cup Loss

The U.S. men’s national soccer team showed what it truly means to be a winner despite being eliminated from the World Cup after losing 4-1 to Belgium last weekend. Just as it had done after every other match in the tournament, players and staff gathered at midfield to pray, “Crosswalk Headlines” reported.

Mark McKenzie led the prayer, kneeling on one knee as the others in the circle bowed their heads. The moment was captured in photos and videos across social media, including by ESPN’s SportsCenter, which posted images on its accounts. Faith was central to this year’s team, with players such as McKenzie, forward Christian Pulisic and goalie Matt Freese openly expressing their beliefs.

Despite the loss, the U.S. team took a major step forward, winning its group for the first time since 2010 and posting back-to-back World Cup victories for the first time since 1930. Its opening victory in the knockout round over Bosnia and Herzegovina was its first in that stage since 2002.

“It’s been such an incredible journey,” Pulisic told Fox Sports after the game. “I never wanted it to end. I’m just so thankful to all the American people that supported us and gave us that boost. It was definitely a summer I’ll never forget.”

Pulisic said the tournament also showed the progress the United States has made on the world stage.

“We need to get over that next hurdle and try to compete and beat the world’s best, and that’s the next step for us,” he said. “It wasn’t quite there today, but I think we showed a lot of good things that we have potential to do it, but there’s still another step that we have to take.”

Midfielder Tyler Adams echoed that sentiment, saying the team’s run gave Americans reason to believe that soccer in the nation is heading in the right direction.

“I think if we gave fans and the people that supported us throughout this journey, even a 1 percent belief that we’re a growing country in the game and that we have the players and caliber to do that — the mentality, the physicality, all these kinds of things — that we did something right,” he said. “Again, it wasn’t going to happen overnight. I know in the moment, it feels exciting when we do well, and it hurts a lot when we do bad, but there’s so many positives, so many players put in great performances over the entirety of this tournament.”

–Lee Hartman

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