KANSAS CITY, Mo. — They play at AC Milan and Juventus, at PSV Eindhoven and Borussia Dortmund, at four different English Premier League clubs, at Monaco and Celtic. They are often described as a “golden generation”; they have stimulated unrivaled hype. They have battled in the German Bundesliga and Spain’s La Liga, in waters previously uncharted by male U.S. soccer players.
And yet, here they were on a brutal Monday night at Arrowhead Stadium, bruised and beaten 0-1 by Uruguay, banished from the 2024 Copa América.