Howard's Heroic Effort Not Enough for United States Soccer

The phrase "I believe that we will win" swept the nation over the past three weeks. It became a rallying cry for the United States and their upstart soccer team. The hashtag #IBelieve could be found all over Instagram and Twitter on gamedays, non-game days and countless other occasions. Although some people didn't like how it became trendy, but that's life because no one in this generation can be happy. Regardless, United States Soccer captivated a nation, and many people wanted to see things continue as they took on Belgium in the Round of 16. Unfortunately for US fans of old and new, the dream faded away on Tuesday with U.S. losing 2-1 with an all-time great performance from Tim Howard, you wonder about their conservative play and the future is brighter than ever before.

When people talk about the best United States player, they looked towards Landon Donovan and now Clint Dempsey but perhaps Howard deserved to be there all along. He wanted to redeem himself from the 2010 World Cup where he played after hurting his back a few months prior. Howard played one of the more memorable games in United States soccer history on Tuesday night. He stood directly on his head and kept United States level when it seemed like Belgium should have led by three or more goals. Had the U.S. won this game, Howard would be remembered like some of the other American greats who have led their national team to great victory. In a losing effort, Howard still deserves to be honored for his performance.

There will be dissenters saying 'Why should we honor someone whom allowed two goals' and those people are the walking idiots around the world.  Howard saved 16 shots. He didn't make a couple big saves, he saved 16 potential goals. It's the most goals saved since 1966. There are many questions today whether Howard will play in 2018 World Cup at Moscow with him being 39 at the time. I don't think he can actually be the starting goalie at that age, but he will still get chances to play in likely the Gold Cup and Copa America leading up to the World Cup. All the time in baseball, pitchers do not get the satisfactions of the team winning after a great performance, and this is exactly what it felt like for Howard.

Much of the reason why Howard had to be on his head is United States conservative play on Tuesday. They didn't exactly park the bus, but they really did not attack as much as you might have wanted them to. It seems like there was a legitimate fear about the counterattack from Belgium. Further even with a conservative gameplay, Belgium still had a great deal of shot attempts which makes you think if the U.S. attacked more Belgium probably would have even more opportunities.  People said if Algeria played like they did against Germany versus Belgium where they were much more attacking they would have beat this Belgian team. We can criticize the lack of attacking from the United States, but it was likely the only way to keep the U.S. in the game.

There were a couple chances for the United States to have two goals in this game making it a little bit more depressing. Chris Wondolowski had a perfect opportunity to give the United States the win in regulation, and he put it over the net. There is debate if the flag was up for the goal kick or if he was 'offsides' which he wasn't. There is some joy and solace in not knowing why the flag went up. If it went up for an offsides, that's all we are talking about this morning. After Julian Green made a statement with his first touch being a goal, the U.S. had a chance for a miraculous equalizer after being down 2-0 in Extra Time, but Clint Dempsey missed the Annexation of Puerto Rico set piece. U.S. was denied a chance to move to the Round of 8 for the first time since 2002.

The future is brighter than ever for the U.S. Men's National Team.  DeAndre Yedlin whom had to came in for Fabian Johnson is only 20 years young, Julian Green is only 19 and seven players on the current roster will be 28 or younger in 2018.  This team is ready to strike and could be a threat to make a long run in 2018. Everyone is right about soccer captivating the nation, and this also means more pressure on this squad. The expectations are raised to another level in 2018 which almost makes it more fun because for once, America wants to have a successful soccer team.

It feels great to have everyone into soccer. I was always a casual fan but remained on the sidelines, I always talked about doing a blog diary of watching different Premier League teams trying to find the one I would like to cheer for because like hockey, I don't really have a club. There is no reason to stop soccer watching with the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Champions League. And if you need the U.S. fix, Copa America is two years away, and we get the Women's World Cup next season.

Go America.

Charlie.

The Disappointing Draw: United States Lets an Opportunity Slip By

Faint chants of U-S-A U-S-A begin to be heard at Jack's American Pub on a jam-packed Brady Street in the 95th minute. There are some already tasting victory and advancement to the knockout stages. I am patiently watching the clock thinking it's too early for chants, just finish and then we can celebrate like banshees. All the sudden, Cristiano Ronaldo tears down the wing and puts in a perfect ball allowing Silvestre Varela to score the equalizer in the latest regulation goal in World Cup history. You could hear a pin drop at the one-time rambunctious bar.

Me?  I went into a full squat buried below everyone. I wanted to crawl into the fetal position and not wake up for the next couple of hours. Did that really happen?  There are no words for the first thoughts after the game except for the fact everyone wanted to drink the pain away as quick as possible. A stomach-punch ending with a great game. United States are still second in the group with a lot that can happen. Even though the final result was a nightmare, the game and the atmosphere was perfect.  

It is really hard to think about the positives of the game given what happened at the conclusion. If the United States tied Portugal 1-1, we would probably talk about the variety of missed opportunities throughout the game rather than wondered what Michael Bradley was thinking with the ball and an open field in front of him. If he runs around for 30 seconds, Portugal cannot muster an attack and the United States is through to the Round of 16. Instead, United States will be fighting for their lives in hopes their trip to Brazil last longer than just a mere two weeks. Bradley had a better game, but it seems more and more like he is developing into the goat of this World Cup for the United States team. 

He had the horrid game against Ghana, and Sunday, Bradley played some better balls yet still had the massive brain fart in the final minute, something he did as well against Ghana. Bradley also had a wide open net with just a defender to beat and instead of delivering a swift kick in, he finessed the ball leading to Portugal preserving their one goal advantage. Bradley is one of the best players on this United States roster, but it seems like the moment is too big for him. He cannot handle being the second star next to Clint Dempsey. Bradley needs to play with more composure especially in the late parts of the game.

Bradley wasn't the only one whom had trouble in Manaus. Geoff Cameron really had a poor game having responsibility for both goals. Cameron had a horrible ball allowing Nani to get an opportunity for goal in the early goings of the game. Further, he lost Varela allowing him to slip behind and lead to the shocking header. Cameron will probably not get pulled from the lineup, but a case could be make he doesn't really deserve to be in the starting eleven after his performance on Sunday afternoon.

Bradley and Cameron might have had bad moments, but let's not take away from how well the United States play today from the 6th minute to the 94th minute. United States attacked more and had more shots in the first half than they did for the entire game against Ghana. Unlike Bradley, Jermaine Jones has been one of the best players for the United States, and he finally made his scoring presence felt with a great strike to equalize the United States. They didn't stop with one goal. U.S. kept attacking leading to DeAndre Yellin starting the break that led to Clint Dempsey getting his second goal of this World Cup putting the United States ahead in the 81st minute. All they had to do was hold on like that Wilson Phillips song and they would be in the final 16. 

As noted, they were denied that opportunity, and once again, a friendly reminder that sports can be the bane of our existence leaving us wonder why we care so much about grown men kicking around a black and white ball.  The equalizing goal and the go-ahead goal feature the complete opposite reaction and why we love sports. It cannot always be rainbows and unicorns. Hardships are involved all the time and usually you would like to avoid them being public. That being said, one of the best decisions I made was to find my way to Brady Street for the game amid a terrible hangover and staying out til 4 AM the night before. 

Never in my life have I seen a crowd of people like that on a street in Milwaukee. The police had to shut down part of the street because so many people were flooding the streets. Nomad had three different places to watch the game, all three were at capacity. According to a guy I spoke with they sold 500 cases of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Guess the whole racism thing didn't really make a dent in their bottom line, eh? Nomad wasn't the only bar packed as every place seemed to be wall-to-wall with people. It made me think could a Milwaukee Brewers World Series run lead to this type of pandemonium?    

 We found our way to Jack's where people were covered head to toe in American apparel. There were chants, there was happiness. The last time I celebrated something to that effect was Aaron Rodgers to Randall Cobb in late December. But it was a great feeling jumping up and down celebrating with everyone with chants of USA reigning down and momentarily deafening the in-game audio. The only thing better would have been an actual victory because the celebration would have been going to the wee hours of the night and this blog wouldn't have been posted yet. It is almost like the sports gods giving us a sample of the nectar of pure unfiltered happiness, but not the whole thing. That will have to wait for another time. 

United States needs a draw or a win to move on or a variety of tiebreakers need to happen with Ghana-Portugal for the team to advance. No one is ready to be done with the American soccer experience. It is just getting started. 

Charlie. 

Red White and Payback for the United States

United States Soccer started their quest for the World Cup on Monday night against Ghana, the consistent thorn in their sides for the last two World Cups. Ghana knocked the United States out of the World Cup in 2006 and 2010.  The Black Stars had a chance to do some major damage to United States' hopes to make it to the knockout stages continuing their infliction of pain to United States soccer and supporters. But U.S. redeemed themselves in a major way with a 2-1 victory in the final moments with a big goal from 21-year old John Brooks in one of the grittiest wins in United States Soccer history getting a much needed three points.

United States had one of the earliest answers in the history of the World Cup with Clint Dempsey scoring in the first minute of the game. This was an ideal start for United States as they struggled in the past World Cup games with giving up an early game. It felt great to be on the other end of the early goal scoring. Everyone had wondered what the ceiling was for this United States team with a mix of hope and wonderment with playing the Group of Death. Dempsey adding the first goal of the game so quickly gave everyone hope from the get-go.

Although after Dempsey's goal, Ghana began to attack with great ferocity at the net trying to equalize the game. The Black Stars ended up with 21 shots yet only three of them were only on goal. This is the most shots taken by a losing team thus far in the World Cup. Ghana kept banging on the door. Everyone kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and it happened finally in the 82nd minute with Andre Ayew having a beautiful goal to tie the match. Suddenly, dejection once again set in for the United States against Ghana. Even though it was a tied match, United States acted like they lost the lead for a couple minutes and then John Anthony Brooks happened.



Two minutes later, United States had a set piece leading to the young gun Brooks netting the go-ahead goal for Team USA. This seemed like the vindication for Jurgen Klinsmann. He took a great deal of shit for some of his decisions along with leaving Landon Donovan and having a guy like Brooks on the roster. Klinsmann even got questioned on bringing Brooks on versus Omar Gonzalez. Further, the player whom set up the goal, Graham Zusi was another Klinsmann's decision. We are not there, but we are getting close to having a 'In Klinsmann We Trust' kind of thing. It is too bad Klinsmann didn't go with a DX suck it chop after the goal by Brooks. U.S. were able to hold on for 10 minutes getting the victory for the team.



The bandwagon for United States Soccer was already pretty full, but it appears like we are filling the whole damn bus. It will look like settlers heading out West in covered wagons. It already seems like soccer fever caught most people, but add the fact, United States got a victory plus a weekend late afternoon date with Portugal, it will be a full-blown bandwagon festival. This isn't a bad thing. More and more people are talking about how much they are enjoying this tournament which is fantastic for the development of soccer in the United States. World Cup is seeing all sorts of scoring in combination with dramatic games along with some surprises plus add United States early success, everyone pushed their chips in. It is a beautiful thing to see.

Hate to be a wet blanket, but this doesn't ensure the United States will be in the knockout stages. They still have to deal with a Portugal team backed into the corner in the depths of the Amazon The unlikelihood of having Jozy Altidore as he seems out for multiple weeks, and Klinsmann's decision on whom will play the striker position. Further, how the other players will dealt with Manaus as many players seemed to deal with cramps through the game. There is still much more work to be done with this team, but U.S. getting three points was massive.

This team is not out of the jungle, but there is much more glimmers of sunshine then there was before the game kicked off on Monday.

Charlie.