-Rush-
In the interests of hyperbole, Rush conveniently neglected to mention that the U.S. actually advanced with a level record of 1-1-1, the same as Portugal’s except a tiebreaker was involved… Also forgotten apparently is that in the beloved NFL it’s not unheard of that an 8-8 team ekes into the Playoffs, or that a team backs in while losing its last game (sometimes purposely).
With all due respect to Rush, he is way off base on this one. The group stage at the WC is analogous to the regular season in American football. Is it not possible for a team to lose its last regular season game and advance to the playoffs despite losing? Do we criticize football for that?
The US did not win the World Cup by losing. They merely advanced to the playoffs, ie the knockout round. At this point, the games are more or less analogous to the playoff games in football. You lose and you’re out. No more celebrating after a loss now. To win the WC, you have to keep winning.