US achieved a lot in Qatar, but left everyone wanting more

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Berhalter and his assistants were unsure what to say. It was half time. The US men's national team was behind the Netherlands. Their tournament lives were hanging in the balance, but the US players had dominated so much of the opening 45 minutes that they had played the way they wanted, even as they were losing.

Berhalter could not tell his players anything. He entered the room after a long time.

He stated that soccer can be cruel.

The truth is at this level. It doesn't feel right to put so much meaning on a tournament. Did you mean four games? It's a fragment in the National Football League. International soccer is all about it.

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The group of US players made their country proud. Soccer rarely goes in those four games. Even the most casual fans felt like magic happened when they watched them in the four games they made an impact in.

The US team wasn't just a bunch of athletes who ran fast and kicked the ball hard. This was a real thing. Fans of the US program have seen it evolve. Everyone knows that the Netherlands defeated the USA.

Everyone knows that a round of 16 exit isn't enough. It's no longer possible.

The goal was to show the world how we can play soccer. Even though we fell short of our goals, I think we succeeded.

He wouldn't say what those goals were. The players would not make noise. Even though the first half against the Netherlands was encouraging, as excited as everyone was, this was still a ride that felt one stop short.

The US should have been in a quarterfinals. The people didn't. The Americans didn't finish as well as the Dutch did. The US has shown in the past that they can make the final eight of a tournament like this one.

They have the ability to hurt or kill someone.

Tyler Adams thinks it's the first time in a long time that people will say this team has something special. If we maximize it in the right way there could be something there.

There are obvious gaps. The US are missing someone who can turn the game on its head, someone who can confront a single opportunity and turn the game upside down.

Berhalter admitted that we don't have a Memphis Depay.

Good players are something they have. Weston McKennie and Yunus Musah are going to come into their primes in the future. Christian Pulisic and Timothy Weah have shown how damaging they can be. Adams is everything a captain should be. It's fair to wonder how much the US would change if they'd played more than they did.

The US paid the price for every mistake the team made on Saturday. The game winner against Iran, Christian Pulisic, missed a close-range opportunity just two minutes in. Adams had a mental lapse and didn't track Memphis all the way to the penalty area, leaving him a perfect view of the first Dutch goal. Sergino Dest was so good against the Iranians that he lost his mark on the second one.

Goalkeeper Matt Turner said everything that could have gone wrong went wrong.

The best highlights of soccer in the Americas are broken down by Herculez Gomez and Sebastian Salazar. You can stream on the United States only.

The exceptions were those moments. The US wasn't perfect but they imposed themselves. They had more shots and passes. The coach of the Dutch team called the first half performance unacceptable. Berhalter said the US dominated.

It will be called progress for the US by some. To be able to make a European power like England uncomfortable, as the Americans did in the group stage, is no small thing.

This team has bigger ambitions and a fan base that wants the same. Expectations need to be for something more than progress that feels like it's meaningless.

The poking and jabbing of a dagger of unfulfillment is what remains. The thrill of the rise was something special for the US, and it felt like it back home. These players lived out their childhood fantasy together.

They tried to get away. They pressed and prodded. They battled each other. They were dancing. They worked together to make people pay attention to them.

The players accomplished a lot in the games. They did just enough to leave everyone believing there should have been more.