FIFA WORLD CUP - BRAZIL
UNITED STATES FIFA TEAM
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ometimes a narrow loss is nearly as good as a win. Sometimes the greatest player in the world wrecks your day. Sometimes he saves your rear.
On one of the weirdest and tensest days in U.S. soccer history, the U.S. men's national team advanced to the knockout round of the World Cup by one of the slightest margins possible. The U.S. lost 1-0 to Germany on Thursday, but the Americans made it to the World Cup's round of 16 on goal differential as Portugal defeated Ghana, 2-1. WSJ sports editor Geoff Foster explains the victory on the News Hub with Sara Murray. The U.S. lost 1-0 to Germany here on Thursday afternoon. But Portugal's concurrent 2-1 win over Ghana more than 1,000 miles away in Brasília sent the Americans to the round of 16—a destination that seemed inevitable a few days ago, but transformed into one of the great nail-biters in recent U.S. sports history. Portugal and the U.S. finished even on points in Group G—this year's Group of Death—at four apiece, but the U.S. had an even goal differential while Portugal finished with minus-3. The U.S. will play next on Tuesday in Salvador against the Group H winner, Belgium. The loss-equals-a-win result was the exclamation point on a bizarre day. The players awoke to a deluge that flooded this city on the northeast coast of Brazil and prevented many of their families from even making it to the stadium. They weren't allowed to warm up on the field for fear it would damage the spongelike grass. They spent the final half-hour of the game getting score updates on the Portugal-Ghana game while trying to hold off one of the most fearsome and skilled teams on the planet. Athletes programmed to focus only on winning were desperate for a tie, and once Portugal had a lead, simply needed to avoid a lopsided loss. Can Team USA withstand an assault from the energetic Team Belgium?
Let’s be honest: The U.S. was outplayed in Tuesday's game, and if Howard hadn’t stood on his head the scoreline would likely have been different. That said, Bradley, like his teammates, was deeply disappointed. “We felt like they were there for the taking and this was a game that we could win,” he said. Yes, there are questions about what could have been better. Were the three U.S. hamstring injuries in this tournament in any way preventable? (“Klinsmann: “What leads to injuries is fatigue and playing at the highest intensity.”) Why did Klinsmann wait so long to make his third substitution? (“You don’t want to give a substitution away too early because then suddenly another player goes out with an injury or cramps.”) And is it possible, after Klinsmann radically changed Bradley’s position two months ago, that Bradley works best as a box-to-box midfielder with Dempsey as the attacking central mid? (TBD on that one.) And yet, if you’re going to question Klinsmann, as you should, you also have to give him some credit for his selections to this World Cup team. It was a mix of young and old, and the standouts here in Brazil included the old (Howard, 35; DaMarcus Beasley, 32; and Jermaine Jones, 32) and the young (DeAndre Yedlin, 20, Green, 19; and John Brooks, 21). On Tuesday it felt, ultimately, like the end of one era and the beginning of another. Howard was relentless in the goal, keeping the U.S. in the game, somehow increasing his degree of difficulty on saves as the night went on. Beasley, playing in his fourth World Cup, was dialed in from the start, attacking down the left, defending Belgium’s strong wing play and making himself a nuisance to players bigger and stronger than he is. Source: http://www.si.com
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