The dust not quite settled on the U.S.-Belgium Round of 16 match and American soccer fans are already considering their team's chances in the 2018 World Cup.

Four years is a long way away, especially since this year's tournament is three rounds from being finished, but already a dialogue on Jurgen Klinsmann's long-term plan for team U.S.A. is gaining traction. Up front, the German-born coach said his team should not expect to win the 2014 World Cup and he was right, as Belgium had the U.S. outmatched even though the game was close on the scoreboard.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Klinsmann's post-match comments indicated he plans to develop the USMNT into title contenders by changing the team's attitude and mentality. Speaking to reporters, Klinsmann said the hard truth of the loss to Belgium was that Chris Wondolowski missed an opportunity to break a 0-0 tie ahead of extra time.

"Think about that a second," Klinsmann said. "They need that sense of accountability and that sense of criticism [from] people that are around them that they care about it. That is good because it gives a sense people care about the game. It makes them feel accountable and not just walk away from a bad performance and nothing happens."

Klinsmann said when he played in Italy's Serie A he could not be seen in public after his team lost for fear of severe heckling.

Landon Donovan expressed some frustration Wednesday, telling reporters after a training session with his MLS team, the L.A. Galaxy.

"I think we're all disappointed in what happened yesterday. I think the most disappointing is we didn't seem like we gave it a real effort, from a tactical standpoint," Donovan said, according to MLS.com. "I thought the guys did everything they could, they did everything that was asked of them, but I don't think we were set up to succeed yesterday, and that was tough to watch."

Still, neither Donovan nor Klinsmann are wrong in their approach. The U.S. team was not even expected to make it out of the group stage, due to a grueling travel schedule and matches against teams like Germany Portugal and Ghana.

Bruce Arena, the Galaxy's general manager, wrote for the LAT that team U.S.A. may still have plenty of work to do to become contenders, but they are headed in the right direction.

"Belgium is a world-class team with very good players in every position and they are capable of beating Argentina in their quarterfinal game," Arena wrote. "As the U.S. Soccer program moves forward, it is time to evaluate where we stand among the top soccer countries in the world. We continue to make progress, but that said, we are likely two World Cups away from being in position to challenge to win this competition, which only eight nations have won."

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