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.

Post-Game Reaction: USA 0, Germany 1

Life After The Group of Death

Very few people, myself included, expected to see the United States survive the Group of Death, but they remain standing and continue on to the knockout round. The U.S./Germany game is a difficult one to break down because both teams were essentially playing for the tie. Neither team really seemed to want to push too far up for fear of giving up a goal on the counterattack. However, Germany did have a lot of chances in the first half to really make the U.S. sweat, but the Germans had a lot of trouble finding the back of the net. Most of the same problems the U.S. have had in this World Cup did stick out against Germany one again, but there were a couple of bright spots.