After the roar of some resounding victories at the start of the World Cup, the US men’s team left the stage with a whimper, not a bang.

On Monday, they were defeated by Belgium 4-1 and never reached the heights of the previous matches.

For a few weeks, some vibrant performances by the men’s team seemed to elevate the sport to new heights in the United States. Now, the morning after the nightmare in Seattle, there is gratitude for all the excitement but also the feeling of having missed an opportunity.

The American team was full of players who played in Europe’s top leagues, and in coach Mauricio Pochettino they had one of the most prominent coaches in the world.

However, they failed to match their best World Cup in the modern era, when they reached the quarter-finals in 2002.

Pochettino subsequently said his team were never in the game and would begin a learning process to explore why.

One of the team’s star players, Tyler Adams, said it was a bad day and they came up short. “We didn’t go as far as we would like.”

This is what experts and fans have been saying.