Post-Game Reaction: USA 1, Belgium 2

All Hail Tim Howard

Tim Howard, Tim Howard, Tim Howard, Tim Howard. Did I mention Tim Howard? Holy cow, can a goalie get some help from his field players? There was no offense or defense in the majority of this game for Team USA, there was only Tim Howard and his imitation of a brick wall in the Round of 16 against Belgium. 16 unbelievable saves to single-handedly keep the United States in this game for 120 minutes. The offense could not keep possession of the ball and the defense did the bare minimum in trying to stop the Belgian attack. That left Howard holding his ground as the last resistance to a relentless Belgian team that for most of the game could not crack the code that is getting the ball passed Howard.

         Unfortunately, Belgium continued to chip away until finally, at the 93 minute mark in the first half of extra time, Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne put one in the back of the net, through no fault of Howard. Despite the 2-1 loss for the United States, nobody should ever forget the effort Howard put into this game. With cat-like reflexes and the body contortions of an Olympic gymnast, Howard made miraculous saves as Belgium threw everything plus the kitchen sink at him. Every shot was perfectly defended by the goalie with precise positioning and every parry was flawlessly pushed aside to prevent a rebound, out of the reach of any of the opposing vultures looking to clean up the scraps in front of goal.

I wish my writing could do justice to the spectacular performance we witnessed from Tim Howard in what is likely to be the final World Cup match for the 35 year old goalkeeper. However, after reading through Webster’s Dictionary front to back and then back to front, there are just no words in the English language that could accurately describe what we saw from Howard against Belgium. Benjamin Franklin was wrong, there three certainties in this world: Death, taxes, and Tim Howard.

Offense Couldn’t Take Advantage of Opportunities

For almost the entire game, the U.S. offense was nonexistent. There was, once again, an inability to keep possession of the ball on the offensive end, which meant that the U.S. had to play defensively. However, in stoppage time of regulation the American offense seemed to begin to finally get some opportunities, but could not convert. Chris Wondolowski had a chance to win it in the 11th hour when a header from Jermaine Jones dropped right to his feet on the 6-yard line with nobody in front except the Belgian goalie, Thibaut Courtois, but Wondo took the ball off a short hop and the shot sailed woefully over the crossbar. A chance to rip the hearts out of every Belgian citizen had been squandered.

In extra time Jones and Clint Dempsey each had fantastic chances to put the ball in the back of the net from point blank range, but neither could finish to draw the U.S. level at 2-2. In the 108th minute Jones, from about 10 yards out, sent a half volley off the outside of his foot well wide of the target. In the 114th minute, in what had to have been one of the best set piece plays I have ever seen, Michael Bradley played a ball on the ground to Wondo, who had looped around to the left side of the 18-yard line. Wondo played it one touch to Dempsey, peeling off of the defending wall unnoticed, and was one-on-one with Courtois. However, Dempsey’s first touch was too strong which pushed the ball too far in front of him, leaving him with nothing to do but toe-poke the ball and hope it could slip past Courtois, which it did not.

The lone goal for the United States came in the 107th minute when Michael Bradley, in his one and only shining moment of the World Cup, sent a chip pass to cutting substitute Julian Green, who finished on the volley with his right foot, giving the Americans a spark of hope that the game had a chance to be sent to penalty kicks. Another substitute, DeAndre Yedlin, came in as a defender in the second half and provided an instant spark on the right side on offense, sending in a number of crosses into the box from overlapping runs that could have and should have been finished.

Playing against a more talented team, the United States needed to take advantage of the limited number of quality shots they had on goal, which they could not do. There were not many chances, but there were some great ones. One or two different bounces in the offensive end and the United States would be moving on to play Argentina in the quarterfinals, but unfortunately those bounces did not come.

What the Future Holds for the U.S.

It turned out to be a successful trip to Brazil for the United States. Given only a small chance to make it out of the Group of Death, the U.S. beat the odds while slaying the Ghana World Cup curse and finishing the group ahead of Portugal and their golden boy in the process. The expectations may not have been there at the beginning of the tournament, but they were certainly apparent towards the end, which makes the ousting by Belgium that much more difficult to swallow. U.S. soccer continues to play its best only when they are considered underdogs, but once the expectations rise, the play and results start to drop, a trend that needs to change.

The future does look bright for U.S. soccer. Although we have likely seen the last World Cup action from mainstream players such as Dempsey, Howard, and DaMarcus Beasley there are players waiting their turn who will be exciting to watch. We had the privilege of getting glimpses of Yedlin and John Brooks on defense as well as what Green can offer up front. There is also Howard’s heir apparent, Brad Guzan, who at 29 has patiently waited his turn to become the next great U.S. keeper to guard the goal for the National Team.

Coach Jurgen Klinsmann demonstrated some odd behavior in the past month: A number of surprise selections to the U.S.’s 23-man World Cup roster, declaring twice that the U.S. had no chance of winning the World Cup, telling the families of the U.S. players to change their flights home for a date after the World Cup Final once the team had advanced to the Round of 16, and complaining about the match against Belgium being officiated by an Algerian referee on account of his and Belgian players’ fluency of the French language, the Algerians being in the same group as the Belgians, and the Donovan goal last World Cup in South Africa against Algeria that advanced the U.S. to the knockout stage.

Klinsmann, however, has brought an energy and focus that United States National Team has never had before. He has taken a hands-on approach to developing younger players, where the results were seen briefly in this tournament but should pay dividends later on. The U.S. National Team is, slowly but surely, climbing up soccer’s hierarchy.

What’s Next?

  A long flight home.