In the days before the members of the United States mens national team faced their first World Cup knockout game in nearly a decade, a reporter in Qatar mentioned to star forward Christian Pulisic that he had produced his own Landon Donovan moment with the goal that defeated Iran and sent the U.S. where every team in the tournament aches to visit.Im hoping its in front of me, Pulisic replied.And so it was. It was there, but it was not to be.In the third minute against the Netherlands, the No. 8 team in the world, Pulisic moved into the open along the left side of the box and had a clear opportunity to score the first goal of the Qatar 2022 Round of 16. He fired as he closed on goalkeeper Andries Noppert, and everything that followed Saturday at Khalifa International Stadium would have been so much different had Noppert not gotten his leg in place to deflect Pulisics shot wide.MORE:What a CHANCE for the ! The USMNT is knocking early against the Netherlands FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) Perhaps everyone should have known then it would not matter if the USMNT owned the first 10 minutes, which they did, or that the Dutch had to tailor a gameplan to deal with their opponent Jake Long Jersey s significant strengths, which they did. Eventually, the more experienced side, the nation that had been there before, would do just enough in three crucial moments to produce a 3-1 victory."This is a difficult one to handle," head coach Gregg Berhalter told Fox Sports."I'm really proud. When you think about how this group came together over the past three years, it's really special. You don't often get a bond like that."I think we made some progre s. When people look at our team, they see a clear identity. They see guys that go out and fight for each other. They see the talent on the field. We made progre s, but on this particular night, we came up short."This became a day in which glaring mistakes were made by U.S. figures whod been near to perfect through the group stage, when the U.S. drew both Wales and England and defeated Iran in a must-win game. It started with Berhalter, who chose to open at striker with Jesus Ferreira, who had not played a minute in the World Cup until he stepped on the field to face the Netherlands. With Josh Sargent injured and Haji Wright struggling in the Iran game, it seemed there were few great options. But Berhalter Isaiah Livers Jersey chose the least of them.3 - Jess Ferreira is the third player to start a World Cup knockout round match after not appearing in the group stage, after Hugo Prez in 1994 and Gregg Berhalter in 2002. Sprung. OptaJack (@OptaJack) Other players whod been reliable, though, could not quite deliver what they had in the previous two weeks.It seemed not to be a coincidence that the first two Dutch goals were scored by players who had been important contributors to their run to the semifinals at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Memphis Depay was a young forward then with great promise and two World Cup goals. Daley Blind was an e sential figure in various positions in victories over such teams as Spain, Mexico and Chile.The young U.S. team, with an average age of 25 and no previous World Cup knockout-round experience in the starting lineup, made errors that were out of character from the way they had performed in group play, when they did not Jesse Franklin Jersey allow a single goal from open play.In the 10th minute, midfielder Tyler Adams lost track of Memphis during his run on a break toward the U.S. goal, which allowed him to field Denzel Dumfries perfect cro s and blast it past American keeper Matt Turner. The second was scored just before halftime, when the U.S. failed to defend a throw-in properly and Sergino Dest who grew up in the Netherlands playing with and against many of the Dutch players lost track of Blind.In a sense, the widespread longing from American fans for the entry of Gio Reyna to the U.S. lineup was a case of: careful what you wish for. Because Reynas role in this World Cup always was going to be as an offensive sub if the U.S. were in a position of being behind and needing a goal. And thats when he arrived against the Dutch.The even greater problem with that circumstance was the smooth goal by Blind off some sloppy defense by the American to make it 2-0 just before halftime. On a simple throw-in deep adjacent to the U.S. goal, Ferreira tried and failed to make a too-heroic play to disrupt, which opened the opportunity for a cro s to Blind arriving in the box behind an unsuspecting Dest.The Netherlands make it two!In the final seconds of the first half, Daley Blind makes it 2-0 FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) Berhalters plan to start Ferreira and rely Isaiah Paige Jersey on his ability to pre s the Dutch as they advanced the ball was wrecked by the goal from Memphis, which followed an episode of Ferreiras best pre sing work.From that point until halftime, Ferreira was relied upon more for his role in the attack, and he failed at every occasion. He had multiple touches near the top of Tommy Henry Jersey the box he either played out into harmle s areas or failed to control and transform into something dangerous. It was no surprise to see him leave at halftime, and neither was it to see Reyna take his place.The U.S. put the opposition under pre sure throughout the second half, and in the 76th minute a Pulisic drive into the box and hard cro s was deflected fortunately into the goal by Haji Wright to cut the deficit to 2-1.It allowed the Americans and their fans to consider the amount of time still available to concoct a tying goal, but that lasted only five minutes before Dumfries scored and made those final minutes mere exercise.MORE:When this tournament is staged again, it will be in North America, primarily in the U.S., and there will be no talk of youngest ever and no experience. Adams, Reyna, Yunus Musah, Weston McKennie and Brenden Aaronson will be in the prime of their careers.There will be le s time for the USMNT to lament this performance, if only slightly, because the 2026 tournament will be staged in its traditional summer window. Pulisic will be 27 when that World Cup begins. Perhaps his Landon Donovan moment will come then.