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United States men’s national team goalkeeper Matt Freese effectively ended the team’s World Cup hopes when he made a backbreaking mistake, misplaying a ball that Belgium capitalized on to take a 3-1 lead in the Round of 16.
Once the ball rolled into the back of the net, criticism of the 27-year-old was both voluminous and harsh. Freese said hearing the backlash hurt.
“It’s just so difficult for me to hear that because if people were to see this group on a day-to-day basis and spend time with these guys more personally, they would see how badly we wanted it. They would see how bad I wanted it,” Freese told ESPN on Tuesday.
“Two years ago, dreaming, like literally dreaming of this, and feeling the honor and the responsibility that comes with it. We wanted it so badly, more than anything else we’ve ever wanted, to capitalize on that and reward that support with something special. During the World Cup and the months leading into the World Cup, there was literally nothing else that crossed my mind.”
Freese said that, following the deflating loss, the team that had captured the hearts of Americans was in disbelief. He said the team’s desire to maximize their performance was so fierce that it hurt that others didn’t know how badly they wanted it.
“I would describe (the moments after the elimination) as being in disbelief that the tournament was over for us,” Freese said.
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“Not wanting that experience together and not wanting the memory of ‘Country Roads, Take Me Home’ to be over or not be happening again at home. Not be able to feel that and feel that again with our fans and feel that together as teammates and as a family on the field. It was devastating.”
The goalkeeper said that the team needs to use their elimination as fuel to go farther in future tournaments.
“It’s become about trying to find a way to turn this elimination into motivation,” Freese said. “I think all of us have the motivation to do something even greater, even better, and to come back better. It’s been about finding a way to turn the elimination into fuel for the fire, if that makes sense. It is easy (to turn it into motivation), but it doesn’t take away from the sting of the pain of what elimination leads to.”
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Freese will return to play when he mans the net for New York City FC and will look to put his costly mistake behind him and move on with an eye toward 2030.
“The first thing is a feeling of hunger to be back there. That’s a very direct and clear goal of mine immediately when the World Cup finished,” Freese said. “I want to be back there and to want to do it again, but to want to do it better and go further and win that trophy.”
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