USA fans single player out for catastrophic World Cup exit to Belgium

Rounding off all three host nations' exits in the Round of 16 stage, USA fans have all singled one player out as a key reason for their disastrous World Cup exit.

Having gone above and beyond to get their star players available for the knockout game against Belgium, breaking precedent to have President Donald Trump help rescind a one-match ban for Folarin Balogun, the host nation couldn't match up to Belgium.

The transitioning European squad left their 'golden generation' stars on the bench to put faith in the new era of Belgian football, and the ethos worked like a treat.

Atalanta star Charles De Ketelaere opened the scoring after earning the leading striker spot from Romelu Lukaku, who, in turn, settled the tie with the fourth goal late on, using his experience to get the result over the line.

While Belgium served up their best performance in tournament knockouts in recent memory - banishing the ghosts of the Roberto Martinez era - the USA team was far from their prime form shown in the earlier stages of the World Cup.

Following the 4-1 defeat to Belgium, fans have taken to social media to single out one player.

Tim Ream singled out by USA fans after World Cup exit

Despite star man Christian Pulisic dropping a poor game and clearly playing through the pain barrier as he was spotted wrapped up in bandages and ice packs after being substituted off, and goalkeeper Matt Freese making a huge error leading to the third and decisive goal, it was another stalwart figure who has been blasted on social media.

At the heart of the defence, it was a day to forget for USA captain Tim Ream, as the 38-year-old former Premier League man couldn't contain the Belgium strikers.

The ex-Fulham defender lost his man for the opening goal and was outjumped for the second, unraveling the hard work done by Malik Tillman to get the USA back in the tie.

Following the game, fans flocked to social media to lash out at the veteran captain.

Barstool Sports presenter Jeff D. Lowe said, "Tim Ream with an all-time forgettable match, holy shit. Just got absolutely dunked on.

Another fan said, "I don’t watch soccer, but is Tim Ream really the best defender we can find in a country of 300 million people?"

Others joked that Donald Trump could get involved again to help the USA team out by offloading Balogun's suspension to the centre-half.

"Is it possible that we could intervene to give Tim Ream a red card?" A third fan said.

Ream has 85 caps for the USA national team, but at the age of 38, time is short to earn more call-ups for Mauricio Pochettino's side.

Rather frustratingly for the US fans, highly-rated Crystal Palace star Chris Richards also had a poor day at the back, leaving big concerns for the team moving forward as they look for more solidity.