See How a Series of U.S. Mistakes Led to Belgium’s Third Goal
The United States suffered a brutal 4-1 loss to Belgium on Monday night amid a controversy surrounding FIFA’s decision to suspend the U.S. striker Folarin Balogun’s red card ban.
The United States suffered a brutal 4-1 loss to Belgium on Monday night amid a controversy surrounding FIFA’s decision to suspend the U.S. striker Folarin Balogun’s red card ban.
The game was filled with defensive errors by the U.S. team, perhaps none more glaring than Belgium’s third goal. Here’s a 3-D view of that pivotal moment.
The game was filled with defensive errors by the U.S. team, perhaps none more glaring than Belgium’s third goal. Here’s a 3-D view of that pivotal moment.
Belgium had possession of the ball, and Thibaut Courtois, the Belgian goalkeeper, passed the ball wide to Brandon Mechele on the left.
Belgium had possession of the ball, and Thibaut Courtois, the Belgian goalkeeper, passed the ball wide to Brandon Mechele on the left.
But instead of passing the ball around and allowing the U.S team. to play its aggressive high press style, Mechele opted to go long.
But instead of passing the ball around and allowing the U.S team. to play its aggressive high press style, Mechele opted to go long.
He lofted the ball forward, bypassing the entire U.S. midfield and defense.
He lofted the ball forward, bypassing the entire U.S. midfield and defense.
Charles De Ketelaere of Belgium raced past the U.S. defender Chris Richards as the ball sailed overhead and toward the U.S. penalty box.
Charles De Ketelaere of Belgium raced past the U.S. defender Chris Richards as the ball sailed overhead and toward the U.S. penalty box.
Matt Freese, the U.S. goalkeeper, ran out of the box to win the ball, bringing it down with his chest.
Matt Freese, the U.S. goalkeeper, ran out of the box to win the ball, bringing it down with his chest.
But just as Freese was about to clear the ball, he looked up and found himself surrounded by three Belgian players.
But just as Freese was about to clear the ball, he looked up and found himself surrounded by three Belgian players.
He hesitated, then stumbled. De Ketelaere knocked the ball away and toward the midfielder Hans Vanaken.
He hesitated, then stumbled. De Ketelaere knocked the ball away and toward the midfielder Hans Vanaken.
Vanaken picked the ball up about 30 yards out and hit a bending ball toward goal.
Vanaken picked the ball up about 30 yards out and hit a bending ball toward goal.
The U.S. defender Tim Ream was backpedaling toward goal and tried to kick the ball away with his left foot. He got a small touch on the ball but failed to block the shot. The ball bounced into the open goal.
The U.S. defender Tim Ream was backpedaling toward goal and tried to kick the ball away with his left foot. He got a small touch on the ball but failed to block the shot. The ball bounced into the open goal.
With its round of 16 loss against Belgium, the United States is eliminated from the World Cup. Belgium moves on and will face Spain in the quarterfinals on Friday.
With its round of 16 loss against Belgium, the United States is eliminated from the World Cup. Belgium moves on and will face Spain in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Photographs by Bora Erden
Methodology
The 3-D scene was created based on photographs captured by The New York Times at the game. The positions of the players, ball trajectory and player paths were determined using custom software created by The Times. The software uses computer vision to detect and track the players and the ball. It also uses 3-D projections to manually map those elements to their real-world coordinates on the field. This data was used to build an immersive scene of the play.
