Photo by Kieran McManus/ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
SALVADOR, Brazil — The U.S. Men’s National Team’s latest attempt at a World Cup rally fell short, and its run at the World Cup is over as a result.
The U.S. were eliminated from the World Cup on Tuesday night at Arena Fonte Nova, suffering a 2-1 extra time loss to Belgium in their Round of 16 match. The Americans found themselves down two goals at the start of the second half of extra time, but a quick strike from substitute Julian Green gave Jurgen Klinsmann’s side a shot at finding an equalizer.
It never came despite the Americans having a few quality chances, and they were knocked out for the second straight World Cup in the first round of the knockout stage.
That the Americans even made it to extra time without conceding was largely down to the spectacular play of Tim Howard, who made 16 saves en route to delivering one of the best performances of his career in front of 51,227 fans. The total was the most a goalkeeper has made in a World Cup match since 1966 and saw Howard named the official Man of the Match.
“Obviously, it’s a bummer for us ending on the losing side after a game of 120 minutes that gave everything to the fans, to the crowd, a real drama, a thriller,” said Klinsmann. “We had enough possibilities to equalize that game and we meant to put it away earlier. But big compliment to Belgium and congratulations to them to move on into the quarterfinals.”
Howard was peppered with shots and came up big time and again before Kevin De Bruyne struck a low shot to the far post in the 93rd minute. Substitute Romelu Lukaku helped make that play happen and he made it 2-0 just before the end of the first half of extra time.
Trying inject some life into his team after it struggled to keep possession and create chances, Klinsmann inserted Green with the U.S.’s final substitution. The move paid off rather quickly, as Green wonderfully volleyed home a gorgeous ball from Michael Bradley in the 107th minute to score his first international goal.
The Americans had chances afterwards to pull level, but Jermaine Jones sent an acrobatic effort wide right and Clint Dempsey was denied from close range by Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
“I thought I had a great touch on it,” said Dempsey. “It was one of those situations that he was aggressive on the play. He came out and made it difficult, made the goal small with his reaction. It was one of those where you try your best and no regrets.”
Belgium was the better team for much of the 120 minutes in Salvador, and it did not win the match in regulation because of the heroic performance from Howard and some poor finishing.
Howard was called immediately into action, denying Divock Origi after the Belgian forward raced past Omar Gonzalez and fired a low shot from the right in the first minute. Howard also negated De Bruyne in the 24th minute and late in the first half.
“This was definitely an amazing goalkeeper performance,” said Klinsmann. “There is no doubt about it. He should be very proud of himself and we are proud to have him with us.”
The U.S.’s only real chance in a first half that saw it lose Fabian Johnson to a hamstring injury in the 32nd minute came through Dempsey, whose 21st-minute effort was too weak to trouble Courtois.
Belgium went right back to work in the second half, but Howard continued to make impressive stops to keep the game scoreless. He smacked away a Dries Mertens header in the 48th minute, denied substitute Kevin Mirallas on a one-on-one opportunity after the hour-mark and stoned Origi on a great look in the 72nd minute.
“It was incredible, the amount of saves that he had,” said centerback Matt Besler. “Sometimes it’s hard to realize what’s going on because it’s Tim Howard and that’s what we expect of him. He’s one of the best goalkeepers in the world and it’s comforting as a defender knowing you have a guy like that behind you. He played incredible tonight.”
While the Belgians were frustrated by their inability to beat Howard, they also wasted some opportunities. Mertens hit a back heel from close range wide after receiving a pass from the left flank and Vincent Kompany failed to cleanly connect on an open shot inside the penalty area that Howard parried.
U.S. substitute Chris Wondolowski could have been a hero in the dying seconds of the game, but he sent a shot from close range over the crossbar despite being unmarked. The linesman on the near side incorrectly had raised his flag for offside, so a goal likely would not have counted even if Wondolowski had found the back of the net.
The match went into extra time, and Belgium finally beat Howard through a well-hit shot from De Bruyne. The play started when Dempsey was stripped of the ball in Belgium’s half and continued when substitute Romelul Lukaku mustered off a challenge from Besler before sending in the ball that wound up at De Bruyne’s feet.
Lukaku then put the Belgians up by two goals by hitting a hard shot past Howard from the left of the penalty area.
“Don’t give up. They scored two goals, we can score two goals,” said Besler on what the U.S. players were telling each other when it was 2-0. “At that point in the game, it’s tough to manage because everyone’s running on tired legs. We’re obviously down a goal so we want to put numbers forward, but they have fresh legs up top and credit to them they were able to find him out on the break and it was a tough assignment once he came on.”
The Americans looked gassed and all but finished, but Green gave them a lifeline two minutes after entering the match. Dempsey could have equalized a few minutes later after getting on the end of a drawn-up free kick that saw the U.S. pass instead of shoot, but his effort from eight yards out was blocked by Courtois in one of the final plays of the tournament for the Americans.
The U.S. finished 1-2-1 in Brazil.
“It was a game that just went to the extreme,” said Klinsmann. “We all are very, very, very proud of our team, of every player stepping on the field today, gave everything they had. I think they made their country proud with this performance and also with their entire performance in this World Cup and you have to swallow this for a second but after a little bit of a break you have to move on.”
Belgium will now move onto the quarterfinals, and will face Argentina in Brasilia on Saturday.
Jurgen was roasted when the roster came out, myself included in that. However, I am excited about him leading this team through the next cycle. Progress has been made. We are getting there.
Disappointed today. Proud of the fight we showed throughout the tournament. We got out of the group of death. We had a shot to knock out Belgium. JK put us in that position. It didn’t shake our way today, but no doubt many positives to take away from this tournament.
Yes yes yes. And thank you for the positives on here. We are playing faster, possessing more, creating more, and have more offensive options… including our wide defenders. PROUD!
So, what’s you all team for the so important Gold Cup in 2015? Can I get a quick starting eleven?
FW – Altidore
LM – Green
RM – Bedoya
AM – Dempsey
CM – Bradley
DM’s – Trapp, jones
Back 4 – FJ, Besler, Gonzo, Yedlin
Subs – Gil, Agudelo, Chandler, Sean Johnson, Aj, Mix, Brooks
Starting Gk – Howard last tourney
I’m pretty sure this is Bedoya and Zusi’s last WC. We need real wingers capable of beating people one on one
The question was about GC2015 not WC2018.
Doubt we can play with 12
Do we see Dempsey, Beasley, Jones, Howard, LD phased out by next summer? I can’t see that happening just yet. But I’m confident none of the 5 will be in Russia
Beasley is out, Landon is out already, Howard is probably making way, Jones is worn out and Dempsey maybe.
Fwd: Jozy
CAM: Dempsey
LM: Green
RM: FJ
CM: Bradley
CM: Jones
RB: Yedlin
LB: Chandler
CB: Brooks
CB: Gonzo
GK: Howard
Bench:
FWD: Aron, Boyd, Agudelo
MID: Gil, Mix, Bedoya, Williams
DEF: Besler, Cameron, Ream
GK: Guzan, Johnson
Stupid Flanders,…..
I actually thought this was the best we played the whole tournament, and if we had to go home that is the way I wanted to see us play. Bradley came back to life and put in a great performance. Yedlin stepped up huge when FJ went down early. Beasley looked like he made a deal with the devil to turn back the clock. Howard was huge. Wondo had one chance and he missed it. It happens. Jones looked gassed from carrying the team for three games running. Zusi had an off day and JK made the right decision to bring him off. Congrats to the team and the coach. We were close to going to the quarters and we lost our main striker 15 minutes into the tournament. I suspect that the people throwing hissy fits on here don’t really understand the game of soccer. Great job boys — classic game!
You wanted us to bunker for 100 mins? Wow
What game were you watching. We had a lot of possession. Go watch the group stages matches and come talk to me.
I believe that we will win!
I believe that we will win!
….. the Gold Cup in 2015
Please leave
I believe that we will win!
I believe that we will win!
….. the Gold Cup in 2015
May Zusi and Bedoya never play for the USMNT again. We need real wingers that are at least capable of beating mediocre defenders one on one. Yedlin, Johnson and Beasley (all defenders) were the only ones threatening their outside backs. Thats fu$king crazy!!!
1 minute of extra time was absolutely ridiculous. Portugal got 5 minutes against us and we get 1. We weren’t blatantly robbed like last world cup (Solomon Couliby) but we are still getting robbed just more subtle. I think FIFA didn’t give us more time because they felt we were going to score if there was any more time. They had to let the bigger footballing nation (Belgium) through.
Regardless I’m proud of the team and we almost squeeked out a win.
Well they’ll have a hard time filling those stadiums once we are gone. Belgium is the size of Maryland do you know how hard MD is to find on a US map for a foreigner? But i agree with you FIFA let Ronaldo get an extra 5 minutes in the first and second half. This sh!t is becoming criminal
We’ll we got one minute of extra time in a 15 minute half and Portugal got 5 minutes after a 45 minute half. I agree though we should’ve gotten 2, Portugal 4
I thought we were off from the beginning. I would not have started Cameron. I’ve never been a fan of Beckerman, but he has been doing a good job. You don’t drop him unless he is gassed.
From there, it was just down to the players, easily giving away possession when we could have had a larger portion of it, ultimately helping our back line and Howard in terms of amount of work necessary to keep Belgium out.
Johnson going down was a killer blow. He has been very good for us, but I was extremely impressed with Yedlin’s play, even though I’ve never been a big fan, mainly due to lack of seeing him play, not for a player biased reason. He tracked back and went forward very well, sometimes going forward a little too much, but we needed something.
Wondo…just bad, not to mention missing a wide open shot. I know I may get flack for this, but this is the exact reason Donovan should have been on this team. I don’t think getting out of the group was any sort of vindication for Klinsmann, as I always expected us to have a decent shot to get out of the group, although difficult. Thus, this is the game that mattered. This is the game that Donovan would have been key in. Creating chances, taking set pieces (our set pieces were rather poor minus that nice move in extra time that yet again ended with a missed potential chance), and scoring goals. I get it, water under the bridge, but I just hate feeling that we could have been at least that much better with Donovan and on that one play, you put Donovan in Wondo’s shoes, I think we score and are on to the next game. To be fair, however, I don’t know how things may have transpired if we still had Altidore at full strength. That would also have changed the dynamic of the game, with or without Donovan.
Hats off to Julian Green too. Great goal and was consistently dangerous for the short amount of time he was on the field. He will be an amazing player to watch.
Jones was a beast again. Not as good on the ball as previous matches, but doing the usual gritty work, including taking a shot to the shin and face, and playing on. Bradley was running all over as usual and did better with distribution, but still not up to snuff. Great ball to Julian, however. Cameron was off a bit as well. At some points doing well, but was caught out far too often. Zusi was pretty quiet and not necessarily for good reason, which is why I was glad he was subbed, but I was hoping for Mix, not Wondo. Bedoya was a workhorse as usual, but just doesn’t possess much going forward, at least against this type of competition.
Dempsey was so so, apparently thinking he had Gareth Bale’s left foot, but at least taking some shots on goal.
Barring some miscues here and there, I thought our back line played pretty well, especially any balls in the air and set pieces, where Belgium could use some of their big boys.
I really think Mix should have been subbed on at some point. He is our most technically gifted player, likes possession, can handle pressure, and seems to create or score a goal every time he is on the pitch.
Lastly, Howard is the MotM hands down. Played his best game for the US in a very long time I thought. There wasn’t much more he could do except to score a goal.
Decent run for the Americans, but I was certainly expecting more because I truly believe we can keep up. Just gotta keep moving forward and hopefully we will be a powerhouse come 2018. Russia, here we come.
Wondo had his chance to be a hero and failed miserably. He was brought to Brazil to poach a goal; the ball fell perfectly for him and he wilted in the bright lights of the World Cup. If that’s an MLS game, he puts it in the back of the net. That one moment of thought, knowing he was about to put us through to the final 8 got to him, and he choked. No two ways about it. Hate it for him, as he will never live it down.
Tim Howard deserved better. Best performance by a keeper you will ever see.
For all the talk of our defense prior to the tournament, Besler, Gonzo , FJ and especially Beasley played well. Most frustrating to me was our wide play. Our wide mids were non existent the entire tournament.
Disappointing to see us defend for the majority of the game once again. We are closing the gap, but there’s still a difference between the top nations and the US.
Hopefully MLS and USMNT can use the excitement and support of the World Cup to spark more interest in the game back home.
and he does not deserve to forget about his choke… Ridiculous
Good hell. This is the second time I’ve seen this comment. Does the name Donnie Moore mean anything to you?
I hope Wondo feels bad for a day, forgets the moment he steps back on US soil, has a wonderful sunset to a great MLS career, and never suits up for the USMNT again.
We lacked quality on our crosses in general, but particularly so against Belgium. Beasley, who played a great game defensively, did poorly on the overlap. Once he crossed across the 6 instead of angling it to the 18 where both MB 90 and Dempsey were trailing. We were poor on our corners too and save the one trick free kick,our set pieces lacked quality.
Don’t want to be a Wondo apologist. He needs to bury that. But putting in Johanson, (or Johnson, Donovan, etc) likely wouldn’t have resulted In a goal on that play. The one thing Wondo does better than those guys is get himself into those poaching positions.
He needed to convert and he would have been the poaching hero.
Disgusting. 4 defenders 3 d mids. Wonder why we can’t score. Then bring in Wondolowski wtf? Donovan was missed all tournament. Nice to see Green and Yedlin play well. How did we not see more of Brooks? How did Iceman and Mix only get one match? How slow is Zusi? Can any one put in a decent cross? Cameron not a CB! Beasley congrats on a great career! Howard stud! Dempsey you might be the most touted overrated American athlete I’ve ever seen. Bradley go back to Europe please. Beckerman earned some respect but please cut your hair. Jones stud! Klinsmann decent job but your line up today F man! Long live 2002 WC.
Mix no c field
MB as the attacking mid? fail
Wondo? fail
AJ? fail
Davis? are you kidding me?
I like all of those players too
But all of these roles could have been addressed in another way. if Bob Bradley had made those selections he would get roasted alive, and rightly so, after how they performed considering those left off the squad
Jurgen gambled with all of that. Came up snake eyes
all of the apologists will excuse Jurgen, but for me, his actions and reasons for handcuffing the team are inexcusable. go ahead and lambast me. I don’t care. If Bob Bradley had done this, omg! skewered alive he would be here
I believe that we will win!
I believe that we will win!
….. the Gold Cup in 2015.
pisses me off
So who would u have put as the attacking mid? Guess what we don’t have one, most teams don’t
think about it, I believe you will find at least one name
anyway, some teams play a different formation that shares the load, and a system that attacks differently. that’s one example of something teams do if they don’t, as you say, have one. but I disagree about our pool’s choices there and having no one. MB was only handed the role weeks before the World Cup having not done it before too.
There are significant disadvantages that the US is beset with because of our shortcomings in technical ability. One is that because we lack the finesse and poise on the ball—throughout the first XI (and somewhat crucially in defense as well) that means that we have to commit more (read: all) numbers to defense when playing a technically superior team. We don’t have the luxury of starting more than one player with defensive shortcomings. Thus you see Bedoya in there. Even if we had a Messi, we would be hard pressed to play the guy because the rest of the XI lacks the quality to retain possession, get out of danger, string together passes to switch the point of attack and spread out the defense and find through balls and test the defense.
If you have defenders who are great on the ball, good at passing out of the back, they don’t have to just boot the ball everytime they are in danger (and essentially forfeit possession or offer up a 50/50 ball) this goes a long way to retaining possession and allowing greater numbers to commit up field without having to track back long distances to provide an outlet just because Besler or Omar don’t feel comfortable with the ball at their feet and an opposing player closing them down.
Absolutely correct……. Why do you think MIX did not see the field? He is more creative than almost anyone in this team…. But he is not a defender, and we need 10 defenders because we don’t do well possessing the ball against teams with technically skilled players. Maybe by next cycle we will be good enough to be able to play a few players who are pure offensive weapons…
I’m not advocating other. I’m the guy who insists all players must defend in today’s game. The game today allows for little else and even the great attackers must put out defensively or subject their team to a hole in their D which good teams (and mediocre ones) can exploit too easily
Hazard wasnt defending and so he got subbed. Its quite true. Everyone must track back.
I agree. I think the people being critical of us “sitting back” the whole game and not playing proactively are misrepresenting reality a little. I would say for a lot of the game we actually played a pretty high line, at least higher than we ever did in 2010. Belgium was quick in the attack after gaining possession, and all of their forward options are capable of competently starting the counter (not to mention Vertongen is maybe the best non-Brazilian attacking fullback in the tournament, and even Kompany started and finished their last effort of regulation). But the reason everyone is decrying our willingness to sit back and play defense the whole game, even though we were playing a high line (that put us in real danger because of the Belgian speed) and committing our fullbacks forward every possession, is that when we do get the ball forward with possession, there is invariably a technical letdown due to poor touch or, trapping, or creativity. It’s the most frustrating thing to watch, but it’s also what makes watching Yedlin, Green, FJ, etc. exciting because they have potential to change that for the US.
beachbum: you’re absolutely right that Bob Bradley would be skewered—he got skewered for simply fielding Michael after all!
Klinsmann has done some nutty stuff that turned out to work: countless late subs that scored, DMB as LB, bringing Green or Beckerman or Yedlin, etc. So he built up an aura of “crazy like a fox.” Deservedly so. But I agree: he can’t always get a pass.
King, great post, maybe your best yet imo. Did some good things, for which he has been duly praised
You just liked this part: “beachbum: you’re absolutely right”
😉
+1 to King and beachbum. I was a very vocal “Beasley at left back will never work” and “Beckerman is too slow for international play” critic. But overall I was pretty pleased with the defense considering what we had to work with. So I want to give Klinsmann credit for that, but what moron takes no backup target (especially with how much this team relies on target play), no LD, and Brad Davis and Wondo instead? Crazy like a fox indeed.
As I recall it did not matter what Bob Bradley did, a large portion of SBI posters always skewered him. He played his son, he did not speak to the media, he wore the same basic track suit and he got skewered for all of it,
I find all this after the fact BB love a little hypocritical especially when you consider, that JK is trying to effect a cultural change , which always draws flak and The Bruce is a a bit of a $@#%, while all Bob was was a really good coach who is an even better man and he he did a great job making chicken soup out of chicken $#@&.
beachbum, I get you hate JK and are pissed about LD but why don’t you leave BB out of this? He’s already done his time with the USMNT “fan” base.
.
others are ALWAYS comparing this team to Bob’s. Please go tell all of them to leave it alone too. Maybe now they will 🙂
Klinsmann had a track suit moment vs. Portugal when he came out in that weak throwback jersey. Now that our run is over and we start preparing for 2018 i’ve got to admit that im glad we will have Klins at the helm. Despite much deserved criticism he is still the best option to build this program and make the strategic decisions for continuing the growth and development of soccer in the US.
A lot of silly questions have been posed on this forum over the past 4 years, and a lot of absurd charges have been levied. A lot of people seem to forget the amount of quality it requires to succeed at a World Cup. Quality, we just do not have an abundance of as of yet.
Seriously, to everyone (and there are a lot of you) out there who keep droning on about how much “progress” American football has made, how much “depth” we have, and how “fine” we were leaving guys like Landon Donovan, Maurice Edu, Eddie Johnson and Benny Feilhaber at home, I think this World Cup has answered all of those assertions.
Wondolowski was a mistake, his only real addition to either of the games he came in was being a “body” to take over up top and allow Clint to actually get into the game.
Julian Green was NOT a mistake.
Brad Davis was a HUGE mistake.
Zusi and Bedoya, while very serviceable in defense, did not show up enough today when it really mattered. Zusi in particular did not possess enough quality to give us an advantage at any time.
Bradley wasn’t absent when things mattered today, and he more or less got better as this tournament progressed, up until the last minutes of today’s match.
Lastly, even a halfway fit Jozy Altidore (pre-Nigeria warm up match, when he was 0 for the century) is as important to this team at present as an in form Michael Bradley.
And lastly, and most importantly… no matter what anyone says or writes about the “Success” of Jurgen Klinsmann in this World Cup, this team STILL has not eclipsed 2002’s magnificent showing. In fact, compared to the historic results that side achieved (3-2 win over a cup favorite Portugal, 1-1 draw against the home country [S.Korea] that would go onto the quarterfinals, emphatic Dos A Cero drubbing of Mexico in the Round of 16 and a 1-0 loss to the eventual runners up, Germany, in which we took the game to them for 90+ minutes, could easily have been up 2 or 3 to 1 and was arguably our best (and most important) performance ever.) Today the boys made it a fight at the end in the most improbable (if you believe all of the Julian Green hate) way but what on earth were they doing for the first 100″ of this match? Certainly not what Jurgen Klinsmann promised this team would be doing at this stage.
I think Jurgen made a decent showing, considering the amount of adversity, but I don’t buy that he has done anything that extraordinary. He certainly hasn’t broken new ground at this World Cup for the US.
damn, very well said.
Second. This is a plateau, not progress at the international level.
Perfectly said
Nice. Where you been all my life? All you little men getting romantic and religious over the U.S. read this guy’s comment above and take a deep breath. Good stuff.
I believe
I believe that
I believe that we should have won.
And I believe we underperformed. Thanks Klinnsman.
1st Time Caller: for all the disagreements we’ve had, surprisingly I agree with you almost completely.
I would only add a note about Jones and Beckerman, who, like Green, suffered a lot of detractors but more than proved their worth.
Agree 100%, in fact, I never thought I would write this before the tournament started, but I believe we missed Kyle Beckerman a bit today. Great tournament by him, and Jermaine Jones, MVP of the WC for me. I don’t have words… Who will succeed you??
By the way, I am sure you are all as monumentally disappointed as I am after today’s result. I appreciate the kind words, and I want it to be known that I am not in the slightest bitter. I am just disappointed. I have been watching this team since 1994 and I had tears in my eyes after Julian Green scored that goal. I believed we were going to bag that equalizer up until the moment the cameras showed Jurgen screaming at the linesman over only awarding 1″ of stoppage. We didn’t deserve to win after the way we played and it was heartbreaking to admit that to mysel… I had just watched 7 other games and many of them ended with terribly unfair let downs to teams with loads of courage who didn’t deserve to go out. Mexico, Chile, Nigeria, Algeria and today Switzerland, it was hard to watch those teams unfairly bounced from the tournament. But that’s football. What was even harder was to admit to myself that it wouldn’t be “fair” for MY team to advance after the lackluster 90 minutes previous they had put in. But I wanted it anyway. And this time fair one out, wouldn’t you know it.
1st Time Caller: again, very well said.
What are you talking about? I will give you Chile, who looked like a better team against Brazil. Perhaps Nigeria had a relatively even contest against France. Mexico played a better first half against Holland, but parked the bus after De Santos scored and was holding for dear life like US normally does at Azteca. Netherlands deserved to win that game. Switzerland had 32% possession against Argentina and allowed 22 shots on goal – 29 total. Algeria had 30% possession and allowed the same number of shots as Switzerland. You really think these teams were unfairly bounced from the tournament?
Mexico was bounced on what Robben himself called a dive…deserved to lose that one the Mexicans did?
Yes, I REALLY think had any one of the teams I listed won, not one observer (save perhaps yourself, a person who seems to think the game is decided by shot total alone) would have called it an undeserved result. Argentina and Germany did not look at all convincing (Argentina hasn’t the entire tournament) for being perennial pre-tournament favorites and Algeria put in the best game I have seen them play to date. And yes Mexico parked the bus, after Gio’s goal, but until Sneijder scored that goal, the Netherlands rarely looked like they deserved to even be IN the contest let alone WIN in regulation. I don’t know what games you were watching…
Not sure I agree
We’ll see how far Belgium goes in this tournament
And you can’t forget: some of these other traditional soccer powers are getting better too
We’re not measuring ourselves against a static group of teams that have plateaued talent-wise
Of course the other nations are not static, but is it any wonder that you see a field like this:
Brazil Colombia
France Germany
Netherlands Costa Rica
Argentina Belgium
Only three outsiders in there and honestly, two of them were arguably pre-tournament dark horses to do some real damage. The only real Surprise here with a capital S, is Costa Rica.
People around her talk like they think we will one day be a part of the A group (Brazil, Germany = Always a threat to win) when being part of the B group (Italy, Argentina, France – a threat to win the whole thing or crash out early, ps I think Spain might settle back into this after long being part of group D) would be in of itself a shocking achievement of upward mobility! Being C group (Uruguay, England = storied history, previous tropy winners, threat to reach later rounds, chronic underachievers) is really not possible since we haven’t a storied history, nor previous trophies. D group (Netherlands, and to a lesser extent Portugal = greatest nation to never win the trophy) is really the most attainable position for the US in the foreseeable future, but even that would require a dramatic upswing in talent, technical ability, world wide exposure and actual results deep into a tournament on more than one occasion.
So honestly, I don’t know what exactly you are referring to when you write “other traditional soccer powers are getting better.”
It’s arguable that ALL of the “traditional” soccer powers, namely the ones that are powerful enough to still be alive in WC 2014 yet again, have been considerably better in the past.
Lastly, if the Belgians emerge victorious against Argentina, it won’t really shed any extra light on the result today. I for one think Argentina has largely played lackluster football this tournament and they are where they are because the setting benefits all South (and arguably Central) American nations and Messi has finally strung together a few moments of briliance to eke results against competition they should be wholly dominating on paper. The US could have really taken it to Argentina in the Round of 8 but sadly we will never know how that might have turned out.
Don’t agree, actually. The 2002 showing was really the luck of the draw. South Korea helped us through and we’ve faced Mexico before, so that game was much more winnable than Belgium. Was Germany of 2002 really a tough opponent? Poor showings at Euro 2000 and 2004 says no. We know what happened in 2006. In 2010, we barely got through a mediocre group that we won and we lamely lost 2-1 to Ghana. If you look at this tournament, it was the group of death, no doubt about it. All 4 of those teams could have qualified 1st or 2nd in any other group. Our backs were to the wall each match and we got out of that group. Today, we faced a Belgium side going through its Golden Generation in the round of 16. So, compared to those other WCs, we have made legitimate progress… but the luck of the draw did not favor us this time (weather and travel against us too?). Personally, I found that 2014 was more important because Klinsmann helped to put more belief in the players and used this talent pool to the best of his abilities to make more people excited for our national team. Our players aren’t gonna make a 4-3-3 formation a fluid attacking game now and that’s not on him. Klinsmann came in 2011 after an awful Gold Cup final showing, so I am not going to belittle his approach after a few years because it takes time to develop a philosophy for the team and we need the right players coming in, too. If he royally screws up in WC 2018, in qualifying, or in the other regional tournaments, then we will all criticize his decisions. With that being said, there’s a lot to look forward to in 2018 and I really hope we get Russia in the group stage!
Think that while 1st Time Caller’s post looks like the voice of reason, it just isn’t.
First, our 2014 draw was much, much more difficult than 2002. Our 2002 team, which I loved, lost 3-1 to Poland. Also, 2014 Belgium is much more difficult opposition than 2002 Mexico, who we knew so, so well.
Second, I think to say that US soccer has made no progress in the last 12 years is so wrong. A crude estimate: current roster players (never mind the near misses) who should be in their primes in 2018: Yedlin, Gonzalez, Brooks, Chandler, Diskerud, Green, Altidore, Johansson. Bradley and Fabian Johnson will be about 30. It’s so hard to look that far forward, but that’s a larger, more cultured core group overall than our, say, age 26 and under players from 2002: Mastroeni, O’Brien, Mathis, Wolff, Cherundolo, Beasley, and Donovan (the last 3 being all time greats).
Finally, MLS 2002 was a contracting 10 team league. We have 19 teams now, and a steadier pipeline of young, developing talent here and abroad. I don’t know, I guess I feel like the 2014 roster is building towards something the 2002 roster wasn’t.
Tucker, albeit disparate,
I also see your points as being valid and insightful
along with 1st time caller, among others.
In the end the future is brighter, now more than ever.
How can you blame the coach for not having “done anything extraordinary”? He didn’t play, did he? Which formation should he have used which would have brought about a better result? Which five players should have been brought in to markedly improve the overall play of the team?
This current USMNT iteration had heart, guts, and did great within their skill limitations! Give them credit for that. Here is the HUGE caveat. Until the baseline of skill amongst our player pool gets higher, we will have to fight and claw for the result that we saw these past few weeks. Klinsy or no Kilnsy. That’s ONLY how the USMNT program improves.
“current USMNT iteration had heart, guts, and did great within their skill limitations”…..”we will have to fight and claw for the result that we saw these past few weeks”……. it’s been like this for more than over a decade now. i understand americans want a winner now, but I don’t see the usa any closer than mexico in winning the world cup. there’s a reason only 9 countries have won it and 3 only once. klinsmann is no closer than bradley was, and he got lambasted for his coaching, when the current one hasn’t done much more. tough group or not, it’s the WC, they’re all tough games.
A couple of years isn’t long enough to change a whole system. Klinsmann knew this. Give the US more time. Our domestic league is still developing. Lack of depth killed the US this World Cup but the US has a lot of youth coming up which is good. As for Mexico, I dare say they are close. Considering they sucked a year ago and did surprisingly well, they are going to be trouble this next cycle but CONCACAF is improving as a whole.
SportNutt, nice, keep coming.
You are right. In essence, what you are saying is that in football the manager has very little to offer tactically to the result. He cannot call timeouts and manage the clock (because it will continue to run regardless of stoppage) he cannot make substitutions at will to get out of tricky situations, and since he is limited by the lack of stoppage, he cannot really even “coach” his XI on the pitch until half time, making it very difficult for him to influence the game by way of calling set ‘plays’ or modulating the tempo and direction of the attack. Many of these duties are left up to the players on the pitch and this is one reason why having a strong captain can help a side. The manager’s effect can be felt more in training and squad selection and in the successful execution of his tactical game plan. It is also notable that his role can and should involve being a motivator, either by positive or negative reinforcement, and although this trait is less quantifiable it can be the most important. How much do the players want to win for their coach?
But again, in the end, the players must play and earn the result. Afterall, the manager can only make lemonade with the lemons that hold an American passport. You take it one step further, putting the onus on the “baseline of skill” throughout our entire national player pool, but you are immediately discounting squad selection as a crucial part of any successful manager’s campaign. So essentially to me what you are saying is that regardless of what Bruce Arena, Bob Bradley, or Jurgen Klinsmann did, they were only every going to be as good as the players they had, and ultimately their [the managers’] individual intangibles and contributions mattered little in the grand scheme of things. End result: 2002 was an aberration because we simply had stronger players then.
Because your point about heart and guts and doing great within skill limitations could characterize 1994 2002 2006 2010 and 2014 WC squads. I would not like to take that aspect of our collective identity as sportsmen for granted, it is a crucial part of our success the world over, in any and all endeavors and it should be celebrated and emulated. But we were not questioning whether or not this squad would bring those qualities; we knew they would.
But you are right, perhaps I expect too much. In 2002, Bruce Arena (and our boys of course) DID “do something extraordinary” and I was simply remarking — (in response to the chorus of back-patting for our overall “progress”, a phenomenon simultaneous to the inexplicable sudden ignorance of the true quality the squad possessed in 2002)–that we have taken some steps back, and some steps forward along the way since then. 2006 was such a huge step back after the Czech Republic debacle, that the “progress” meter was reset in the minds of long time watchers methinks, and with it 2002 was largely a hazy memory. 2010 (while arguably better than 2006) was still an additional step backwards. This (2014) was surely a step forward, but it wasn’t as good of a showing as 2002, and I don’t really think that point is arguable. Until we show as well as we did then, we will not have truly “progressed” at least not in this “baseline” skill amongst the player pool.
And by showing well I don’t just mean in results. Even though our boys displayed enough quality to bag 5 goals this tournament and flirt with WC record books here and there, the harsh truth is on the ball we were outplayed for 7 out of 8 halves and 1 out of 2 extra time periods. I don’t care what you say about that, but that to me is not clear progress from Jurgen.
One of JKs best “finds” for this cycle was actually Beasley who proved his worth at LB many times over throughout qualification and the tournament. I don’t think too many people had him on their short or long list at the beginning of the cycle.
recovered amishman …..+1
Agree, definitely.
+1
1st Time Caller
Nicely written but I don’t agree with anything you wrote.
Mostly, I don’t see any really sensible way to compare 2002 to 2014, twelve years removed.
That and I think you underestimate how difficult the World Cup is.
great post, agree
1st Time caller, I like it, accept for JK did bring in Brooks, and Green and
they probably would not have even been on the radar if Klinsy, was not around.
Now it should be more clear and evident what people mean
when talking about players who have the skill and poise on the ball
to create and take the game to opponents rather than toil around in neutral space.
I’m not so sure. If it were Bruce Arena, then yes, they likely would still be on German YNTs. But Bob brought in Jermaine Jones and Timothy Chandler and Julian Green would have been a prospect with a huge bullseye on his back even if Jurgen wasn’t our manager.
ps. If you believe Yanks Abroad:
(https://twitter.com/YanksAbroad/status/478690236923265025)
…they brought John Anthony Brooks to the attention of US Soccer. I’ve been reading that site since DaMarcus Beasley got sold to PSV and I wouldn’t put it past them. Very thorough, but still kinda seems like a stretch.
Sorry man, but MEX should have had a penalty that would have tied the 2002 WC 2-0 at 1-1.
Of course that’s true, and that would have indeed changed the dynamic of the game considerably, but I still think we win that game no matter what. 5 minutes later and we score the second goal and have to watch everybody get hacked to piece for the next half hour while Mexico self-destructs.
I appreciate that you mentioned that because it was NOT an easy game simply because we were playing Mexico (who we had won 4 out of the last 5 competitive meetings with) as some posters on this board have argued. There are no easy World Cup games. Luck went our way with the handball then, and it went the other way against Germany with their handball.
I SOOOO wanted to see Mix and Aron enter this game for their confidence and creativity on the ball. I was commenting to my fellow friends that a good portion of the US soccer team looked like confused adult league players who do not know how to move with the ball to open up space. Far to many times certain US players received the ball and then proceeded to shimmy in a half circle around the ball while looking to get rid of the ball. When you watched the Belgium attack their players were attacking with intent and creating open space for their teammates. I was appalled that the only US players with confidence to take people on were our outside backs. Again I will say that Wondo has great work rate and heart but that will always take a back seat to a player with a high soccer I.Q. Green came in and did what our vets were scared to do…challenge the Belgium players offensively. Great ball from Bradley but i still don’t like him. I’ll admit he plays some good long balls out of the back but he is not the so called box to box player everyone says he is, he is a DM. This was shown by his inability to make any quick and useful decisions 25 yards and in. He would have excelled in Beckermans spot. Would have loved to see Mix in Bradleys spot with Bradley where Cameron was and JJ running free like he did. Dempsey is not efficient without a big man up top. He is just too slow. He excels due to his ability to read the game and move to the right spots. He was never going to take anyone on with any success one on one. SOOOOOOOO frustrating watching the USAhhhh we dont play offense.
In hindsight, Aron might have been better than Wondo…
webk, nice analysis and insight.
wherever you came from we need more.
anyway, good effort by the team.
hope we really grow, progress, and learn from this.
In the end, I really wish we had that thing behind door number 3.
We missed LD, on set pieces, particularly corners and also on the counter.
his poise and experience would have been useful, no denying it.
The team never had a PK this tourney,
but he still would have been our
number one choice, even from the press box.
P.S. before when I stated American coaches.
I meant American youth coaching in general.
All this “Donovan absence was felt today” talk is lazy journalism imho. We missed Jozy today much more than LD. Dempsey couldn´t play like himself as the target striker.
Won-DOH!!! Too much respect given Belgium. Should’ve exposed their slow FBs from minute 1 but it’s impossible when the fastest players in the squad are our FBs. All in all, we had chances to win in regular time and tie it in the second ET period. Can’t really ask for more from a team that was flawed from the start. Proud of the heart they showed all tournament long
Fun Fact – Every team that played in that hell hole Amazon has gone home.
Apparently Wondo hasn’t seen Forest Gump where the simple rule of “keep your eye on the ball was taught”
A nutless monkey could have knocked that in.
Injuries… Did Jurgen over train them? They looked beat. Jones is a warrior but man he looked gassed in the 80th minute
They’ve also played four games now in heat and humidity in the past 16 days, so I think it just took its toll. They had a terrible draw in terms of weather, travel, and time between matches, and I think you saw it on the field today.
It was cold though. It was hotter here in Florida all World Cup
Cold today, but all our group games were played in the heat, and all of Belgium’s were played in decent weather. It adds up…proud of our team. They came out of a schedule designed to beat them down and took Belgium to the last minute.
And most of all fu*k FIFA for always making the World Cup about euro teams. We damn near travelled around the world within Brazil
The US soccer federation did that on their own by basing their camp where they did before the schedule was out.
Lesson to learn there, hopefully.
For example: do not base the USMNT in 2018 in Vladivostok.
if i’m USSF, i’m saving up so we can build our own facility like Germany did. place it in the most central position from all our group games. assuming we qualify.
Wondo, oh Wondo!!!!!!!!! You are at the WC for one reason and one reason only. To poach a goal. Then the Gods of Soccer give you the chance to poach the winning goal to move to the quarter finals….. And you flub it!!!!!!
I love Wondo, but he should have done better.
Belgium were the better team. They deserved a win. But we should have won. Period.
I get it, but really do we need to rake him on the coals? He probably feels as bad as anyone. It’s not the time to place blame and hate. Unite and strengthen. Chin up Wondo
This. Imagine how sad all of us are right now, then multiply that by 1000. Do people forget Dempsey was in 100% n didn’t finish? If not for Howard we lose 11-0 anyway. Putting this on Wondo is ridiculous,
One thing that was universally agreed upon going into this tournament was that Wondo was here mainly to poach goals in the box. If he can’t do that when it matters more than it ever has in the history of USA soccer, he deserves criticism. Of course I feel for him, but this isn’t one of those times where you can say “there were a lot of mess-ups throughout the game, this one just happened to be last.” This was horrible.
Blame Klinsmann.
A tying goal can’t be a winning goal by definition.
The miss was at the end of regulation and therefore very likely the winning goal. By definition…
Professional players should be hailed when they do great and raked over coals when they screw up. Wondo cost is QF. For that he should never see the team again, he won’t, and should be reminded in all MLS games.
If Wondo was playing in a high pressured league, guarantee you that goal would have been an afterthought. This is why we need our best players to move on from MLS and challenge themselves week in, week out with no guarantee of a starting place. This makes players play with a higher intensity on a consistent basis and not just wait until MLS playoffs or meaningful intl matches.
Look at Jermaine Jones‘ intensity for the entire match as an example.
Well I’m f*cking pissed. I have such a love hate relationship with Klinsmann. For every right move he makes he comes back with an appalling one. Wondo didn’t deserve to be there and it showed. In a moment of need he lets the whole team down. The game shouldn’t have even gone to overtime. No back up plan for Jozy really hurt us. Are you really telling me Donovan couldn’t have helped this team more than Davis?
Gonzo is such a busch league defender its sad. A more un-athletic Mertesacker and nothing more. Cameron showed better but still has mental lapses. I think he’s best as a CDM. Yedlin and Green looked great, excited about their future. As much as it hurts to say, MLS has hurt Bradley’s sharpness. He just hasn’t been the same since he returned.
Who ever the trainer is needs to be guillotined right now. I have NEVER EVER seen that many muscle fatigue injuries for one team in a World Cup.
Thank you Howard, Jones, Beasley and Dempsey for your performances but its time to move on
Yes. You do really have to question what led to all the hammies.
lol Gonzo saved our asses the 2nd most
And thats because his positing is so poor he has to make a last ditch diving effort every time. He was turned inside and out on multiple occasions. He just can’t hang
he hung great vs. Germany
Bailed out by Howard and Besler once again
against Germany? no
Seriously are you related to Cameron? He was the worst player on the field the first two games and should not have played this game. He doesn’t even play center mid for his club team. And almost every OT game in the WC has had dozens of cramps.
Re watch the game. Cameron got better as the game went on. He covered plenty of ground and broke up many plays. He showed technique and poise in overtime when we had so many numbers forward. He has played midfield his whole life and has only recently been moved to defense. Im talking about his position for the USMNT not his club. He has not learned the CB position well and is prone to too many mental lapses while back there. At this point going forward, I would rather give Yedlin the RB position.
Im talking about about muscle fatigue inures that force players out. I watch much soccer and have never seen it to this degree. You must be new to the game. Congrats
Gonzo made 61 clearances! The most in 50 years! You are so dense !
I LOST POWER WHO
Not even this can take the pain away.
Belgium pressed high and challenged our ability to play through them. We couldn’t do it until our back was against the wall. For all Jurgens talk of total football and imposing our will, the strategy in this was too timid.
couldn’t agree more.. .Had he come out and said “Hey guys, we’re going to the world cup to try to counter attack and just hold our opponents back” I would have been like, “OK cool, job well done” But he promissed football and said we would impose the pace of the game which happened literally 2 times in the whole of the 390 minutes played this WC…We need to play like belgium did since the beginning
Until we have Belgiums talent going forward and in the back thats a fan boy dream not a reality. USA cant play like Belgium do we have a Lukaku or Hazard? I think not.
We have enough talent to play more attacking soccer. The problem is it’s JUST enough. It always feels rushed and hectic. We’re always on the brink of losing the ball when we play that way. It’s uncomfortable. So we settle for balls into space out wide and (usually) harmless crosses. We are almost there though.
And there you have it, MLS type play vs most other professional leagues around the world. Hectic rushed play and poor technical skills on the ball. The goal for US Soccer is to get to that technical and tactical skill level in the u18/u20 and u23s. Bring it forward and it will pay off.
The problem is that we don’t have enough high quality coaches that are capable to teaching possession soccer at youth level. Yeh, everyone talks possession, but how many youth teams (including DA clubs) regularly put together 5+ pass sequences?
Absolutely true Euro, and discussions surrounding the failure or lack of talent coming out of the ODP program continue, except someone like Yedlin who came out of Wash state ODP. In the USA, we dont have professional clubs plucking kids out of school to be locked in an academy until they are ready for the big time. Just a cultural difference there
(1) Why didnt klinsmann make that green sub earlier at 1-0? (2) beckerman should have started over cameron who was the worst player on the pitch. (3). Finally mb is not an attacking mid – he was way better when they switched him to dm at the last 15 mins. Alright said my peace – I’m spent!! See you all in 4 long years!!!
Cameron actually had some nice moves in overtime. Wondolowski and zusi were BY FAR the worst players out there.
+1
+1. Easily the worst two by far. Beckerman should’ve started but Cameron did have some fantastic runs. Also on Bradley who the else is gonna play in that position?
Green was warming up just before Belgium scored their second.
Cameron did enough for us to beat Belgium if Wondo finishes the sitter he got from JJ on the play started by Caneron at minute 92.
But thank you Steve-0 for calling out the biggest mistake: leaving out Kyle Beckerman. With KB playing, we would have lost some of the headers against Fellaini, but would have the glue that made us Group of Death beaters. Against Belgium we had 54% of the possession. What we were lacking was posession with purpose crossing midfield. It needed fast, pinpoint passing, good decision making, field vision before receiving passes, not after. Ballach said that was the hole in the US team. That we don’t have such a player. He was partly right. It was a hole but we DO have that player. KB proved he can play midfield like that in qualifying and at RSL. If Kyle Beckerman plays instead of sitting against Belgium, we are playing Argentina today for a final 4 spot.
Klinsman made some good coaching decisions. Sitting Beckerman was not one of them. He is afraid of superstar European players and this was his undoing. Bradley Sr. less than 15 years ago takes it to Germany and beats them 2-0. Let’s learn from that instead of going backwards.
Sorry Guys! Better luck next time! It was a nice game after Green scored. Why can’t the USA attack ? Instead of defending. Its pretty awesome when your team attack.
1 minute extra time was ridiculous, just like 5 minutes for Portugal was ridiculous. But that’s Fifa.
indeed
There is a solution. STOP THE F’N CLOCK.
but instead soccer will whine for a thousand more years, about too much and too little.
Are you whining about soccer, just asking?
Is that you Ann Coulter?
Did Belgium drop/flop to waste time in that 2nd half extra time? One score = 30 seconds added time. No subs. No time wasting. 1 minute was fair.
wondo why do you make me cry
No f$&king team should ever have to endure 40 shots on goal. Our forwards threw the cup for us. Zusi is an MLS superstar at best. Reminds me of Kerry Zavagin
Totally. Zusi = poor man’s Donovan
Zusi is sh!t with a pony tail.
congratulations to Green on a fine goal and to Tim Howard for keeping the US in the game through regulation. Hat tip to Beasley too. The dude looked like he could go for another 30 despite playing endline to endline. And people can blame Wondo all they want, but seriously, there was plenty of bad play all around.
Green made a nicely timed run. But the finish was kinda lucky.
Still I’m super happy for him and hope he keeps developing.
+1
+1
I don’t think you give Green enough credit. The degree of technical difficulty on Green’s volley was extremely high – most players on our team won’t even connect with the ball in attempting this kind of volley, let alone put it on frame. You can nitpick about what part of his foot connected to the ball, but just getting a contact on the ball required tremendous amount of coordination, agility and technical skill. Watch the replay and compare it to the replay of Wondo’s missed sitter from 3 yards and pay close attention to his technique. One could say that Wondo was unlucky and that Green was lucky, but watch their technique.
proud of this team
and the fans 🙂
I just cannot believe a professional soccer player that lacks of composure and skills to score a sitter in the dying seconds of a game of this magnitude, at this stage. It is just appalling, Wondo is not made for this level, it has been said in this site for ages, unbelievable.
Additionally, the US lacked possession and drive in the regular instances. You just don´t expect to beat a world power playing like this.
We are left at the same stature of the mexicans, waiting another four years for a better generation to put us through or luck at the WC lottery… Again, disappointed.
Although Aron didn’t have a good start, this fast paced game seemed more suitable for him.
You don’t expect to win a game by defending all the time. Their mindset on attacking and creating chances should have been from the beginning.
Blame Klinsmann.
Alex G.
You obviously don’t watch much soccer. I’ve seen dozens and dozens of players way better than Wondo miss chances like that, It happens all the time.
we can be pissed at wondo, but to say no good strikers miss that is just flat out wrong. HE SHOULD have scored, but i have seen plenty of AMAZING forwards miss things like that.
Ok, you guys are totally wrong, better watch world class players such as Suarez and CR7.
Just go on You Tube and type in worst misses in soccer.
Better players than LD and Wondo have had worse misses.
But never, ever in the World Cup.
Wondo missed a sitter.
Wondo did not allow Belgium to score two goals.
Who is responsible for us losing?
When will tim Howard brand condoms come out thou?
Thank you. Levity helps with this pain
That would be a horrible idea. TImmy had no protection all game!
Analogy comprehension fail.
+1000
I don’t want to know who you’re proposing for a V1agra generic.
Just wanna preemptively strike down the arguments we are sure to debate for the next few months or years.
1) I am just as pissed at wondolowski as everyone. And I’ve disliked him forever. That said, amy argument along the lines of “Donovan would have scored” is ridiculous. No one knows how Donovan’s inclusion in the squad would have affected this, or any game.
2) Belgium was a much better side than Ghana of 2010. We have made progress.
3) we should’ve have won this game. Wondolowski should have scored a winner. Anything that happens before that is irrelevant to that single play.
It’s been fun. Hopefully in 2018 we have no zusi like or wondolowski like players on this squad. Then we will get to the quarterfinals.
So:
1) We know that Donovan has scored in that situation in international games many times, so I have to say yes we can say Lando would have scored. Of course he may have choked like Wondo but we will never know because he was not there.
3) We ‘could’ have won the game not should of, any of the multiple saves that Tim made could have won it for Belgium.
1) My point is having landon on the team could have affected things in a lot of ways. We might have not even made it out of the group, you never know. Yes, if Landon were in that precise position he probably would have scored. Johansson probably would have scored too. Tim Howard might have scored. My point is, that miss does not mean Donovan should have been on the team.
The reason Donovan should have been on the team is because he is better and faster than either Davis or Wondolowski. You don’t even have to look at the international statistics, just look at their play in MLS. Donovan scores more than Davis and has more assists than Wonodolowski. He is more versatile than either player, being able to play several different positions and is equally adept with either foot, unlike Davis who is very left footed.
Donovan was not on the team because he couldn’t be bothered to fight for a place on the team.
He figured his same old, same old would be good enough and it wasn’t And it is a shame because if he had applied himself it might have been.
Besides, he was better in 2010 than he is now and it wasn’t enough to beat Ghana a team who were inferior to this Belgian team..
haha! you’re going to hold this position on this? wow
.And you know this how?? “he couldn’t be bothered to fight for a place”……”He figured his same old, same old would be good enough”…..Ok Klinsmann, stop playing reveal yourself….hahahaha
LD said as much with his “I can’t go 100% for 12 days and have a great day every day.”
Basically, he pulled an Allen Iverson.
hey Mason, I like your posts man, but pulled an Iverson? whatever, I chuckled 🙂
bizzy,
“And you know this how?? “he couldn’t be bothered to fight for a place”……”He figured his same old, same old would be good enough”….
Look it up, it’s all out there.
If “ifs” and “buts” were candies and nuts we would all have a Merry Chirstmas.
Please for the love little baby jesus quit beating that horse. the horse is dead.
I have to say, one minute before Wondo cost us the world cup I was spitin’ fire cuz I felt once again we just fell back, granted possession and truly if it wasn’t for “god level” Howard, we would have been 5 under…
The 2 goals hurt like hell, and When I saw Green prepping I just about lost it… However, I was proved wrong. even with 2 goals on ET, the boys reacted. Bradly showed up 110 minutes late but man did he show up… and that assist was pure gold only to be polished and perfected by Greens amazing volley. And after that instance in the game, I started to believe again…
I am so sad we have to leave… Many will argue that out of the whole 120 minutes Belgium played better and deserved to win, but I challenge that, because the true American Spirit came out and at least we died facing the sun and giving one heluva fight.
I’m proud of the boys. I may, just even give JK some credit although I’m sure I’ll regret it later as we should have played forward from the get go. Tonight was about our boys, and the great American fighting spirit they’ve passed to us all. I’m sure there will be millions of new fans thanks to this heroic team and with a little more football and lot’s of passion, I’m sure Russia 2018 will be a historic one.
Good work tonight boys. I DO BELIEVE!
Gotta say, Green’s volley was less than perfect. Lucky is more like it. Still, 2018 is looking quite good for the USMNT.
Lucky? Did he have relations with your mother or something. To call that volley less than perfect you have to be personally affected by him
He’s right. Look at the replay it hits over his toe. The perfect shank, but much credit to get in that position
Luck is nothing but skill meeting opportunity. If he hit that solid, the angle would have changed and Courtois would have made the save. He hit it just fine.
+1 he did the right things… didn’t go for too much power, and made sure to put it on frame, but not at the keeper.
Two seasons ago one of the candidates for goal of the season was a Wayne Rooney overhead bike vs Man. City.
On replay you can see Rooney hit the ball with his shin.
It still counts and it is still a great goal.
Good fight boys. I’m very sad but proud.
Heartbroken. I… Yeah, I’m speechless.
We missed Donovan and E. Johnson badly
And Jozy
all of the above
have youve seen Eddie Johnson play lately lol
+1… Yes, with EJ in the line our statistical ratio of step overs per game would have increased significantly, and helped out tremendously.
Hahahhahahahaha all he does is step over. Loves that move
so bummed out but we put it all out there. especially Howard. Wondo though, WTF?! him and Davis showing it was stupid to bring them. im probably extra bitter right now but still.
also, Besler was exhausted but he just straight up fell over on that first goal and lost his mark on the 2nd. guy was VERY good, so hard to say much…but man, oh man.
now, can we stop wearing white in the Round of 16 against teams that wear red? please. for the love of god, please.
also, that Green goal should shut everyone up. that goal is huge for our mentality coming out of this World Cup. without that goal, it’s a much more cloudy feeling surrounding our exit.
Stop talking about future! WC is now and we just lost. We are talking about future for 12 years and are still where we were in 2002. We need results and we just don’t get them. Terrible.
Of course they do but stop being so dam narrow minded. Im sure you didnt even have us get this far. Look there are no moral victories but you can be proud of what you did and look to better things.
dude, RELAX. i’m not talking about the future like that. i’m simply saying it’s nice having that goal towards the end simply from a mental standpoint.
bryan you are such a Klinsmann fanboy. And you probably have photos of your hero Timmy Chandler taped on your bathroom wall. grow up boy. open your eyes.
what are you even talking about? go ahead and show me why i’m a JK fanboy. until then, i’ll take it you are overreacting to a simple comment.
you open your guys. Brooks scored, Yedlin was a revelation, and Green scored. it’s that simple. those three inclusions were directly targeted as bad decisions before the WC. they weren’t.
as for Chandler, you borught him up, not me. he saw 0 minutes. what is there to say?
i’ve said it before and i still think it, JK was wrong to bring Davis and Wondo. LD and Boyd for me. so again, how am i a fanboy? because i give him credit for three surprise inclusions that worked out well?! get a grip.
*eyes….
bryan, two points:
1) Davis was a mistake, but Wondo showed well. Yes, he missed a “sitter,” but so did a lot of superstars on several teams. It happens.
2) How about NO white kit? A Red and a Blue. No white.
i disagree about 1. i don’t think he did much at all except miss the few chances he got. which was the exact reason he even got on the plane…the whole argument for his inclusion was that he finishes everything. i know he’s human, but my point would be i bring a forward who brings more than just that. and look, i’m not blaming him for us going out, i want to make sure that is clear. but now that the WC is over for us, i’ll reflect on why i didn’t want Wondo there to begin with.
as for 2, AGREED! we have to burn those things.
bryan: okay, fair enough about Wondo. I agree with the criticism that we should have (and could have) brought a forward that provides more.
btw, did you know that Brazil retired their previous jerseys after their loss to Uruguay in 1950? They never wanted to see those colors again. So they held a competition to design new jerseys and—oddly enough—a Brazilian Uruguay fan, Aldyr Garcia Schlee, won with the now famous verde-e-amarelo.
I think Wondo changed our attack for the better while he was in there. Go watch again, he was a bigger presence more of the time than Dempsey, especially in maintaining possession. If he had hit that one seemingly certain goal, we would have less negative to say. Shame he didn’t. That one will haunt him no matter how much $$ he makes in MLS.
i’m assuming this is in response to me given King wasn’t making the argument against Wondo. i’m going to have to disagree with you and leave it at that.
i actually had no idea! interesting, that is some awesome trivia right there.
+1 Thanks KGE. Always something to learn.
FIFA would require a white/light kit. The contrast of dark/light shows better on B&W TV.
Mason, the following nations had no white kit:
Brazil
Mexico
Cameroon
Netherlands
Australia
Colombia
Ivory Coast
Ecuador
Japan
Belgium
…and Spain, which to my knowledge, was the only one forced to come up with a white kit (last minute).
Now, all of those, excepting Mexico and Netherlands, used some form of yellow as their light-colored kit. USA doesn’t have a great option for that. Croatia gets away with their red/white checkerboard for their light-colored shirt.
Frankly, I’d prefer one crimson and white Waldo hoops shirt, and one solid navy blue shirt. As an added bonus, the mix would look great in the stands.
So who did we discover was the USMNT’s* MVP?
Two arguments from absence:
Altidore?
Beckerman?
Two from presence:
Howard?
Jones?
___________
* Only going off of players on the roster
that’s a tough call, King. Jozy missing was big for us, will always wonder what could have been. Beckerman, meanwhile, showed how much better he can make us too. it really helped Jones out. i’m torn…
i think Howard. but that is heavily weighted by this performance.
It’s a domino effect: If Jozy had been in, then the midfield wouldn’t have been so pressed; if Beckerman had been in, then the back four and Howard wouldn’t have been so pressed. The absence of one leads to the dire need for the one further down the chain.
totally agree King. that is why i can’t decide. i think if both were available, i go with the lineup/system we saw against Nigeria. i think that one gets everyone in positions that suit them almost perfectly.
“i think Howard. but that is heavily weighted by this performance.”
When trying to determine who is MVP are you saying performance does not count?
GW, I think he means “this [one] performance” is too heavily weighted in determining the *overall* MVP
GW, was strictly talking under the assumption we are discussing an overall MVP. given Jones’ performance over the entire WC, i think he would give Howard a run for his money…but i’d go with Howard with today’s performance being the kicker.
I stay with Jones because:
a) he got so much grief from fans over the years (including me, a little) and emphatically shoved it all in our faces
b) he scares me (even more than Howard does)
c) his first World Cup ever
d) dude suffered a broken nose, crunching tackles, and who knows what else but just. never. quit.
Don’t for get the clearance off of his broken nose. You know that had to hurt.
Mason: you’re right. Jones was a “Rocky” movie.
makes sense. i’m actually a little surprised i lean towards Howard because i’ve always said Jones is easily one of the best players on the team. i always said no way he should be benched for Beckerman.
i will say, now that i’ve slept on it and processed the tournament as a whole, i may have to switch my choice to Jones. he certainly had more influence over all 4 games.
Jones,
He kept us going in the Ghana game.
In the Portugal game his golazo completely changed the way that game was going
In the Belgium game his header off of Cameron’s pass put Wondo in position for THAT miss.
He will be missed.
Keepers really need to be in a separate category from players in terms of MVP things and the like.
They can keep you from losing or they can keep a lead for you but they can’t win a game for you, unless they score a weird goal.
Why you guys so impatient. I agree winnable game but we were never suppose to win it all. Im proud o this team
+1
Agreed. Big picture. Slowly but surely improving
Yes, we had an unfavorable draw, and we did well to get here. Especially with the loss of Jozy so early. Almost overcame both the headwinds and the gaps in the team to beat Portugal, win group, go one or two levels deeper. In a few cups, like maybe the 2022 here at home (maybe, if the rumors are true, cross your fingers) we will have progressed a few cycles into better talent.
Think about this….
The following players will be in their primes for 2022
Julian Green- 27 years old
Yedlin – 28 years old
Brooks – 28 years old
We can pen in 3 starters for 2022 which is great to know. Not many countries can even pencil in 3 guys two world cups down the line.
Let’s look at 2018:
Defender pool includes Brooks, Gonzo, Johnson, Chandler, Yedlin, Zimmerman, Farrell, Packwood
Midfield pool includes Bradley, Diskerud, Flores, Gatt, Nagbe, Gil, Corona, Zardes, Green
Attacker pool includes Altidore, Johansson, Boyd, Rubin
2018 could be our best USMNT ever.
The injury to Jozy took its toll. Also lack of technical ability in the midfield proved to be a problem, maybe Luis Gil can help
My thought as well – I think Gil starts getting consistent call-ups from now on. A midfield with him and a more mature Green would have significantly more technical proficiency.
Dont agree. I have been watching gil for years. Sorry he is not the answer. He can’t even start regularly and provide regular quality minutes for rsl. If he were good enough to eventually be the linchnpin of the usmnt that can go toe to toe with the best he would have been lighting up the mls already.
Highlight was watching JK drop a very loud F-Bomb after only 1 min of added time was given.
I remember the other games going for 3 or more minutes every time.
That was terrible.
Lol easily could have been 4 minutes
we always get doinked like that
It was awesome. But yes, four minutes easily.
Pretty sure it was the close up of Vertonghen vomiting.
LOL, I was thinking I was the only one who saw that. It was nasty lol.
Me too, this team with LD would have been in the final.
…sarcasm right?…
at least we could have subbed him in instead of either Aron or Wondo, who both struggled at this World Cup, to say the least
This team didn’t miss LD one bit. Good riddance to him we missed a strong forward in Jozy, Boyd and Johnson. Wondowlowski and Johannson just weren’t the types of forward this team needs
whatever you say
Let us know when you get back from fantasy land! Donovan over Wondo and Davis every day. Not only is he just plain better, but he has the hero tendencies we needed tonight (and against Germany for that matter). The team did well but cutting Donovan was an error.
Meh. Theres really no way to know that in 2014 LD would have done something that resembles his 2010 performance. Move on..
yep, no way to know because Jurgen chose others which proved to be wrong selections. You can see that now can’t you? or maybe you still can’t move on from that fact
And how many others would have brought Boyd, yedlin, and Green? I know that very few on this board agreed with those selections. You will always be able to complain about player selection but you really have no way of knowing what would have happened. Bringing Donovan who admitted to not be able to train at full intensity probably would not have changed anything even if he actually made it into the field. I am much happier to have taken some young gins who DID play well and score goals, and who will be even better in 2018.
+1. The number of contributions from “guys who didn’t deserve to be there” makes this stuff laughable. All the comments about Yedlin, Brooks, Gonzo, Green… hilarious. Couple that with the Jones hatred and you have a proper comedy farm.
Klinsmann brought them, used them, and got huge contributions from nearly all.
We are in great shape for the next cycle. We will lick our wounds for a few weeks. Copa America 2016 is gonna be a superb stage for us. Heck… you never know… maybe the LD crowd has its way… Anything can happen.
if you still can’t see that it was a massive mistake and continue to defend the bad decision, ok dman
has nothing to do with being a ‘LD crowd’…talk about laughable
Thanks dman, right on, and i wish the american public would give up on this LD love story. It was over years ago. Good MLS player, mediocre on the world stage and cant keep up anymore…
D man, LD is, was the number one catalyst for the counter attack which is what we needed considering the style of play the USNT, presented game in and game out,
as I always stated he would have been the best one, two or three option off the bench, no question.
And you will always be right in your imaginations.
Landon is great but he wasn’t there. If he wants in, he can work hard and make 2016.
who is imagining anything Diego? Aron struggled, Zusi and Bedoya not attacking threats, MB out of position didn’t work…not imaginations, painful realities that need not have been
Not trying to disrepect you beachbum, just saying that LD could have cr*pped the bed out there just as easily as he could have helped– we will never know. In my personal view, I doubt it would’ve made much difference either way. He would’ve had his moments, but I don’t think any one individual could have been the difference maker (unless Tim Howard has a secret brother). We were outgunned by a superior Belgium side. Call it what it is.
But I accept that’s just my take too. So fair enough.
His hero tendencies are expired along with his once great stamina and speed. Ask the Galaxy who needed a goal to avoid elimination/washing out of the US Open against the mighty Railhawks. Guess he would have dominated Hazard and Belgium though.
He probably would have scored that sitter that Wondo missed, though. Given the fact that he’s played in 3 world cups and scored 5 times. At the very least, I’d rather lose with a player like Donovan missing that opportunity rather than Wondo.
“I’d rather lose with a player like Donovan missing that opportunity”
So would Wondo (probably)
:/
False.
Clearly LD was missed, since the left side was never used throughout this tournament. We all know who owned the left side of the field on this team.
This team got through the group stage because of its utter commitment to defending. Period. Donovan had no place on a team like this, and frankly in all the 4 games the only time I could have seen inserting him would have been when Wondo came in.
Now true, that could have won us this match, but I get what Klinsmann was doing.
Where was Zusi last night? Vertongen was making crosses and taking full volleys ALL NIGHT! Zusi’s D was terrible! What did Brad Davis contribute to the D? Nothing. We could have used a player like Donovan with the flexibility to be played as a midfielder or forward.
True Manny F. LD along with Money Green, as I always stated. who else can really attack and make moves from the left.
I really wish the pundits had not scarred off Klinsy, from using Green More. American coaches I hope you see why an attacking player such as Green is so valuable along with LD.
too bad he was way under utilized.
Green comes at you like Robben.
we never had that until the last 15 minutes of the final game.
even JB Corona may have offered this.
What people like you miss about the Landon Donovan omission is his experience, versatility, and experience would have helped particularly after Altidore’s injury. He could have slotted in anywhere in the midfield, even for Bradley, and or slotted in under Dempsey. Bad choice during this cup by Klinnsman. With the experience gained by Yeldin and now Green, maybe a good call for the future.
Quite frankly I am not sure some of these posters even know what a counter attack is, much less how badly we were missing one.
So cynical… do something productive and edify them then if you feel capable of explaining things.
If you took Donovan you had to start him or he would pout and divide the team. That clearly wasn’t part of the master plan
that is just wishful BS. Gonzo has been talking to Donovan regulary and getting advice through the cup. We just had a coach with a little too much of an ego and the team pays for it. Not a player on that field that would not have wanted a healthy Donovan coming in off the bench.
It’s true that we can never know what Donovan’s presence would have meant. But Green’s goal-scoring run highlighted the kind of initiative and creativity that was sadly lacking, notably from Zusi and Bedoya. Say what you will about the 2014 edition of Donovan and enumerate his supposed flaws, the plain fact is that he shows the same kind of initiative and creativity, and makes the same sort of run, several times in almost every Galaxy game.
+1
As I have been pointing out before, there is absolutely no evidence for this statement.
There’s simply no evidence for any statement about LD’s affects on the the 2014 WC. He wasn’t there, so it’s pointless to discuss him.
Agreed Lando would not have taken his eye of the ball like Wondo, shame the way things worked out.
C’mon, I remember faulting Donovan for missing similar chances in the past when he was better than today.
Not when it counted, though, and especially, not in the World Cup.
No. Not really. Thanks for playing.
While Green scored a goal, Landon would have gotten a hat-trick!
Well, that was about the best lemonade you could make with those players. Much credit to Klinsmann, I think.
I have to go eat my shoe now that Green got on the field, and scored, with his first touch!
He actually played very well and kept the defenders on their heals
I absolutely a agree. And what was so exciting is he was very comfortable on the ball, much more so in the warm up friendly I saw him play in before the tournament.
Klinsmann waited way too long to make that last sub. And he set the team up way too defensive. And he didn’t get the 23 man roster right. No cover for Altidore (should have brought EJ or Boyd), and bringing B Davis and Mix instead of Donovan was ridiculous. Did Mix even play? B Davis was horrible in his only appearance.
I agree. I think you’re on to it. I was mostly ignoring these pre-cup decisions in my comment. Good that you brought them back up. Donovan omission is embarrassing and even more salient of a point now that Jozy got injured.
Is Costa Rica’s coach available? He has definitely been the coach of the tournament. What could have been we will never know. Thanks Timmy Howard for all you have done and to all the team. You guys deserved better and deserved to have the best assembled team possible.
LOL. Agreed. Cost Rica has been tops. They’ve played futbol and done an amazing job with the high defensive line. Italy couldn’t even break through.
Algeria’s coach was amazing as well. That team totally overperformed. He changed 5 starters from game to game to implement totally different tactics. very impressed.
UCLABruinGreat,
“Klinsmann waited way too long to make that last sub. “
1. JK waited until Belgium’s legs were gone.
“And he set the team up way too defensive. “
1. You obviously did not see Belgium play. Basketball analogy: When the other team are a Lakers/ Magic Johnson show time fast break team you don’t try to run with them, you slow the game down to half court contest.
“And he didn’t get the 23 man roster right. No cover for Altidore (should have brought EJ or Boyd), “
1. EJ or Boyd are not in Jozy’s class, there is no cover for him. If he goes down you change your style.
“and bringing B Davis and Mix instead of Donovan was ridiculous. Did Mix even play? B Davis was horrible in his only appearance.
1. ”Donovan didn’t want to come that bad.
2. DMB did want to come. So he shut up, did something he did not want to, i.e. play left back and did a great job at it.
As soon as I saw him going in I was like “seriously?” you send in Green when you’re 2 down and haven’t done anything but defend for 110 minutes?!?” But then he showed us why… I was pleased. True he’s a young kid, but soon enough I think he’ll be that next Donovan for the next 8-12 years.
Me too dude. I was so pissed when he got subbed in haha. Glad I was wrong
Yeah, tough pill to swallow but I get why he was called up now. Very, very comfortable on the ball, which is something very few native American players possess.
This said, it also has to be noted how easily it seems he can be on this team – just a reserve player. He would never make the squad of any other teams in the quarter finals. It has to be some indication of the relatively dire state of U.S. futbol.
Well, lets give credit…Beasley looked very comfortable on the ball out there, as did Dempsey (of course) and surprisingly, Yedlin as well.
FJ, Yedlin, Demspey, Beasley, green, mix, Aron all have that natural talent and composure on the ball that we need to get to the next level. The US isnt the type of team to really finish a game vs a top world team with >60% possession. we are slowly gaining these players with this talent but its a slow build.
You have company there. And I also thought it was a mistake to bring Yedlin instead of the experienced Parkhurst. I guess Klinsmann may know a thing or two about this game. But he was wrong about Donovan.
I agree, but I happen to think if he was thinking with his football brain instead of his wounded heart he wouldn’t have left Donovan out.
FuBallistico, No need to eat your shoe,
it’s just a little sad that it took until the last half of overtime in the last game of this world cup for people to finally get a witness.
In the end we all grow together, or we fall apart.
What the f$&k I waited 4 years for the same freakish result. Our attack should be ashamed of themselves no goalie should have to make 10+ saved in a game if we had won we would have gotten away with murder like Brazil and where the hell was mix !!!!
Seriously, sub in Mixx for Bradley… he just did not perform well.
The bradley was somewhat deserved early, but certainly not today.
*The Bradley hate
Bradley was fantastic today
He started off rocky in the first 30 but settled and played decently. Bedoya was sub par and Zusi was atrocious.
Agree Agree Agree… anyone saying Bradley was anything “below better than average” today has an axe to grind or has red hot pokers in both eyes
“What the f$&k I waited 4 years for the same freakish result.”
Yep — the USA’s World Cup 2014 Brazil effort and performance was all about you.
Next time don’t wait, it may happen anyway
Julian and Yedlin next cycle im excited!
Aw yes, the first stage of grief.
—————-Boyd/Agudelo—————–
Green————————————-Gyau
—————Mix———–Zelalem———–
——————-Williams———————-
Johnson-Brooks-Packwood/Brown-Yedlin/Chandler
GUZAN
……Single tear
uh, dude, Jozy is only like 25…
So he’d be how old in 2018? And Bradley lacks skill. Not Bradley hate. Just simple facts.
Jozy will be 28 in 2018…the same age as Ronaldo is now.
yeah but he sux
Bradley? He’s got a whole new team out there
All this discussion about the next WC is just ridiculous. It happens only once every 4 years so it is way too early to think about it. And it will be in Europe with European countries doing much better. How can we be below Costa Rica? We had a great chance but Wondo screwed up. And them others. Love the team but difficult to accept this disaster.
Who would have predicted the US team of now in 2010? As for Costa Rica, Greece is not nearly as good a team as Belgium.
Also Costa Rica are the tournament darlings who have played very well….. Why don’t you compare our results to Spain, England, and Italy?
Yes, and Portugal and Ghana are on par with Italy, Uruguay and England. Portugal is a joke they play every 4 years on CR7, and we were lucky to beat Ghana.
Bradley: 26
Altidore: 24
Johannsson: 23
Gonzalez: 25
Beasley: 32—but he will be back and reinvented as a CAM. Mark it!
Yeah people don’t think.
Like you KG eye but you failed to mention one, not one German American, really just red white and blue American. They shined brightest along with Howard and Deuce with a broken nose.
Jim in Atlanta already listed Green, Boyd, Brooks, et al. I was only listing the youngsters who he missed (and who are currently on the team).
KG eye, cool thanks,
got you buddy.
Will Trapp is twice the player WIlliams is
None us see Williams enough to know. He almost made it to. The PL this year though.
Off the top of my head Jozy (24), Besler (27), Gonzalez (25), and Bradley (26) will all be basically in their primes (based on age) for the next WC, so it seems odd to include none of them as starters.
………………….Jozy………………….
Green…………Aron…………Zelalem
………..Bradley…….Williams……..
FabJo……………………………..Yed
………….Besler…..Brooks………….
………………..Guzan………………….
that’s a nasty lineup btw. Athleticism and speed all around (mostly).
Geoff is only a year older than Besler so if Belser isnt there, Geoff might…. pehaps.
Dont forget Agudelo and Boyd as subs, even luis gil.
I do think with this lineup it be more of a 4-3-3 than the perceived 4-2-3-1 illustrated.
And Diskerud, Johnson, Flores, Rubio, Zardes, Bradley, Walker, Gonzo… maybe even Gatt. Just getting better and better.
For now, we lost to a team that clearly was a little more skilled, but we advanced out of group two World Cups in a row. Better and better.
Add corona, Villarreal, future is really bright.
Die haben gut gespielt. Danke, Jungs!
Vielleicht die nächste Zeit…
Irgendwann schon, bin aber stolz auf das Team. Geniesse die WM. Die USA in Aussenseiterrolle wird auch mal ein Ende finden. In 4 yrs we have farther to climb.
Ihr könnt stolz auf euch sein. Die USA hat ein verdammt gutes Turnier gespielt. Es würde mich freuen, Yedlin bald in der Bundesliga zu sehen.
Bitte Deutschland. Bestimmt nicht England
Why oh why didn’t we press like that before we went down by 2?
No kidding! They talked and talked about how they gave Germany too much respect and they come out and defend for 90 minutes.
I’m tired of respecting these beatable euro teams it’s getting frustration now
+1 bro.. +1… Had we played like we did the last 10 minutes since the beginning, I bet you their goalie wouldn’t have stopped 1/2 of what Howard got.
We need to learn to play aggressively and offensive.
We misuse most of our chances, they would have had way more breakaways, and we would have been dead exhausted by 70 minutes.
Shame this is lost on most.
Yep. We started to press after they went up 1-0 and immediately they had one of the best chances of the game then scored shortly after that. It would have been scoring opportunities on 4 vs 3 instead of scoring opportunities where it was 6 vs. 9 like it was.
Thank You, True Patriot and everybody else who sees it agrees and understands, time to take it to them 90 minutes plus all the time every time.
`PLUS 10 still looking for Pele, but Money Green ain’t so bad.
No way could the US have pulled a high press for more than 30 minutes. The team would have been tired by the second half and the high press is extremely vulnerable, leaving wide open spaces. Plus, makes no sense to high press teams that have better quality individual players than your own team.
I’m just noticing this but we only scored 5 goals in this WC and 3 of them came from Germerica. Algeria brought a team with 16 french born players. I don’t care if the next WC all our guys are foreign born. F* it.
The other 2. Texas
We always play very well when we have to play with urgency.
OH well! Can’t wait for Copa America 2016!
You mean 2015, right? And who will you be cheering for, ’cause the US is not in it this time.
Because – Belgium was applying too much offensive pressure. At the end, it looked like we were pressing by choice, but in reality it was only because Belgium sat back in a defensive posture because of the 2-0 lead.
Want to know what I realized about these Euro teams? We are way better at defending than they are. We pressed hard and scored in minutes they pressed for 95 minutes and scored
Well… I don’t know… We certainly have a superb goalkeeper… It’s misleading I think to to think we can defend better than other elite teams. Really, on one level, anybody can do that – the game is so much more than that.
agreed in general. we defend, along with many of the Conmebol and other Concacaf teams, as a team. It’s always a HUGE difference. Everyone defends
This is half true, but it was also the result playing with pace up the wings and crashing the box. Yedlin owned that sideline for the majority of the game, but we under utilized it, and didn’t throw anyone forward to finish.
I agree. And I think too that this is the product of an inability to possess the ball in the middle of the park so that we have the liberty to crash the box.
Exactly. It’s not like we didn’t try to attack. We just had difficultly building through the center of the pitch.
Futbolisimo and bitman you are both correct.
but the real question is why did we not have this. Where are all those skilled players?. American coaches, again please learn how to identify and teach the beautiful game.
The difference is first touch. Our first touch isn’t as bad as it was a generation ago, but still not quite at the level of some teams. Eventually, if you play wide open, the difference in touch translates into scoring opportunities.
So while Belgium was pressing, we really didn’t have much choice but sit back and defend. Sometimes on transition to attack we were able to string some passes together, and that’s when our opportunities opened. But most of the time we tried, they closed space, we couldn’t hold the ball because someone’s first touch wasn’t perfect – and typically we launched something down field for Dempsey to try to make something happen against a couple defenders. It’s tough to watch, but it stems from a lack of touch in midfield.
Yup the first touch is what separates good players from bad players for the most part
Well… I don’t know… it’s a lot more than first touch. ..
The U.S. suffers from a dearth of imagination, inventiveness, ingenuity, etc…
It’s okay though, this will develop as the pro system transforms to the pyramid system (relegation, etc.) that the rest of the world plays under…
… in addition to moving the game out of the middle class and more into the working classes (as athletes from b-ball migrate over, etc.)…
Holy Horse Sh*t. You think those Belgian players are from the tough rugged streets of Bruge? You think the Germans live in poverty kicking a rounded piece of mud? This has nothing to do with the middle class or working class. We just don;t have the players. The same reason Belgium hasn’t qualified since 2002 is the same reason we look so average the last 3 World Cups. We’re just not in a good cycle. We just happen to come out of an easy region and don’t tell me it isn’t easy.
I think Mexico, Costa Rica and the US have shown its not as easy as many have believed.
I can’t wait for us to have a good like the Premier League. Then we will play as well as England!
I hope not. Thought we were passing England already.
It’s hard to be imaginative and inventive… when you are struggling to control the ball.
At this level, speed of play is too fast for anything less than world class first touch. When we have 10 guys on the field who can match the first touch of the best teams, then we can worry about inventiveness.
The main difference is that when those European teams have the ball, they make good passes and maintain possession. Once again we gave away the ball far too often, often while not under pressure. Also, it seemed like Belgium got the vast majority of the 50-50 balls.
+1 Better passes and maintain possession better and we beat Belgium. The answer was sitting on the bench. We didn’t need a European lesson. We just needed Kyle Beckerman. I’m still grateful to Klinsman for using him in Group play where we created a group of death for Portugal and Ghana to get knocked out early.
Cameron was in to shut down Fellaini particularly in the air. Fellaini has been big for them in this Cup and I’d say Cameron did the job. I don’t know if Kyle, who has better hair but is inferior in the air to the Fro, would have done as well. Six of one and all that.
Remember, if Wondo puts that chance away, on a play started by Cameron, then the US gets to face Argentina wth a rested Beckerman ready to beat on Leo and his crew cut.
Agreed. Donovan buries that miss by Wondo 4 out of 5 gimes. Wondo could get it 2 out of 5. The first shot by either team in the overtime was off a cross from Beasley to JJ. If JJ moves back a 1/2 step and heads it down, we bring on Beckerman instead of Julien and game over for Belgium. We had multiple chances late with it 0-0 and on reviewing, it was not as lopsided toward Belgium as media portrays. I’m ready to forgive Wondo. Others missed chances to put us through to the final 8. Wondo and Beckerman had a special connection in the Gold Cup last year; others couldn’t utilize him as well.
Agreed. Rewatched and it was there for Wondo. He makes it 2 out of 5 times. Donovan buries it 4 out of 5 times.
I’m ready to forgive Wondo. Others missed chances. In overtime, JJ takes a 1/2 step back and heads down Beasley’s cross and we are up 1-0. Then bring on Beckerman instead of Julien and game over Belgium.
On rewatch, possession and chances not as lopsided for Belgium as media portrays.
Wondo and Beckerman had a special connection in the Gold Cup in 2013. He brought out the best of Wondo.
sorry to clutter this; thougt 1st reply bounced. Can a duplicate post be deleted?
Because when they went up 2-0 they relaxed into a defensive posture.
You are not giving enough credit to Belgium who maintained their attacking posture and their possession for most of the 120 minutes, which is pretty hard for ANY team to do. Sort of a tiki taka with more speed and more muscle.
You aren’t giving the US defense any credit. If Belgium play like this against Argentina they will massacre them.
He may never live that one down
He deserves to never live it down. I almost feel bad for him, but he will cry himself to sleep on his giant pillow made of money.
I’m just going to go ahead and get this out the way
WONDOLOUSY!!!!!!!
Was the play offside or not? Seems the commentators didn’t catch it, or it was play on.
But yes, what a terrible miss.
wondo was offside but they called it so either way we wouldve been screwed
Wrong. Was not offside, and the ref didn’t call it offside either. Goal would have counted.
he absolutely had his flag up for offside. unless he was calling a foul against us. either way, the AR was waving that flag around. but yes, Wondo was certainly onside.
He was pointing for a goal kick. Way onside
way onside, but you’re right about the flag too. just re-watched it and turns out TT and Ian were just being wrong. even this article says the AR called it offside.
if you check the Yahoo blog writers post, he points out that the official FIFA stats list no offsides against the US for the game. Thus it was not called offside.
many times the refs over rule the linesman by ignoring the raised flag… although ref and line judge have diff angles the ref “sees” something and lets the play continue.
dont go anywhere….
2015 – Gold Cup (summer in US cities)
2016 – Copa America Centenary (summer in US cities)
2016 – World Cup Qualifying (spring and fall in US cities)
2017 – FIFA Confederations Cup (summer in Russia)
2017 – World Cup Qualifying (spring and fall in US cities)
2018 – FIFA World Cup (summer in Russia)
When does Olympic qualifying begin?
Correct. not even close to offsides.
Not offside. The AR was pointing for a goal kick when the ball went over.
what a shame to waste such a great game by Howard. Klinnsman gets to mull over his Wondo selection for a few years.
On sides. Not even close.
We all know that he was just a little ahead of Donovan too.
Wondo over Aron…
Aron could have been more useful with his technical ability.
Not just his technical ability, but he is far beyond Wondo in his tactical decision making. Wondo does not know how to move off the ball to create space for himself and his teammates.
That is easily the most ignorant comment of the day. Wondolowski’s movement off the ball is what made him the leading scorer in MLS, and what earned him his spot on the squad.
You must be a far more astute judge of off-the-ball movement than John Terry, because he said Wondo’s movement was very difficult to deal with…..but once again, that was just one man’s opinion
While I do think Aron seems intuitively intelligent in movement and positioning, Wondo has basically made his career by being in the right places at the right times.
GET OVER IT
NO
THEN CRY FOR AN ETERNITY!!
And keep telling people to let it go for an eternity! You obviously dislike Donovan, and that’s keeping you from admitting that he is better than many of the players chosen over him, and that he would have helped.
We can cry for the next four years!
CRY? you go ahead and APOLOGIZE for the mistake an eternity!
“The truth is that my colleague Landon Donovan suffered the result of being cut from the roster in the training camp he suffered with me.”
~ Jurgen Klinsmann, 2014
The US needed 1 more clutch player. The most clutch player in US history would have finished that.
Maybe he wouldn’t have been standing there though, so who knows. Wondo always looked scared of the moment. Not ready for the big time. Some men are born with nerve for the big moment, Howard, Dempsey, Donovan they are built of that special stuff. Wondo, unfortunately is not.
“Some men are born with nerve for the big moment, Howard, Dempsey, Donovan they are built of that special stuff. Wondo, unfortunately is not.”
Dempsey should have put away that that chance off the free kick in extra time. He does that 9 time out of 10. That would have taken it to penalties.
So much for your theory.
GW,
but remember this:
“6 – Clint Dempsey created more chances for his USA team-mates than any other player in the squad at the WorldCup. Focus.” – Opta
in addition to his two goals.
Never. Klinnsman made all the right moves and subs throughout the tournament but putting wondo in over Aron was a mistake. Wondo is a hustler poacher who should be put in when trying to hold lead or as a third forward when looking for a goal. He doesn’t have the quality or ability to be the first forward off the bench. More goes into a goal than just standing there waiting. Especially when the team is struggling with possession and skill for that matter.
JK got a lot of things right this Cup, but his fatal mistake was starting both Zusi and Bedoya against a team that was vulnerable down the flanks. Putting in Wondo when we were getting killed in the midfield was a bad sub too. That should have been Mix or Aron. JK had a chance to show he believed in this team and instead he had them come out like Honduras. That’s hard for me to swallow since the last 20 minutes showed that this was a team that deserved the chance to die going forward instead of sitting back.
Those last 20 minutes we also gave up 2 goals and Belgium was sitting back and letting us come at them. Klinsmann did his job and then some just guiding us to the round of 16 at this WC, but the reason we lost in the end is that we were outclassed, which is something that we will overcome with time
*last 30 minutes = 2 goals
Thank You! 100% my sentiments exactly. It was a damn shame to go out like that
Agree completely. People took the ball away from Zusi at will both this game and last. I really think he is a great example of an MLS player who does well at the club level but cannot make the transition to WC-level play.
Before the tourney, I kept telling people that if the best we have at midfielders we have are Bedoya, evans, and Zusi, we’re in trouble. Very surprised we did as well as we did. Happy though.
The TRUTH. Finally someone said it.
Belgium was vulnerable down the flanks. Vertongen could be out run and it forces DeBruyne to hold more.
What’s funny is that if Wondo scores that (probably does 7 out of 10 times) then Klinsman is hailed as an oracle for his player selection, BUT I guess people would have still complained about Green’s choice and we now see how that turned out.
That is funny.
If Jurgen believed in green, he should have played him. This was a game desperate for pace on the wing.
Jurgen waited to long.
Jurgen was correct to bring the young players. He was incorrect to bring 32 year old world cup rookies instead of a 32 year old 5 time world cup goal scorer. There is no question that Landon Donovan finds a way to score that goal. At the very least, you’d rather have him in that position over Wondolowski, who has a history of missing those types of sitters.
“At the very least, you’d rather have him in that position over Wondolowski, who has a history of missing those types of sitters.”
Really? I’ve seen LD miss his share of sitters.
It’s obvious that for some reason all the people that were watching on ESPN are confused for some reason??
I was watching on Univision. It was clearly not offside. Not only was Wondo not offside, but the linesman didn’t call it offside. If he had scored it it would have counted. You can clearly see the Belgium players screaming at the linesman protesting why he didn’t raise his flag.
Wondo could have put us through but shanked it. I hate him even more now!
+1000
Wrong. That goal wouldn’t have put us through.
OK I’ll take the bait, why not?
Umm yes it would have. It was 0-0 and that play was close to the 90th minute. We would have most likely won. Explain yourself? You are the one that is wrong.
LOL, bigtime trolling
I doubt if any fan is being harder on Wondolowski than he is himself right now. Dempsey knocked his free ball right into the goalie…not much better. I say give the guy a break.
Furious at Wondo but agree to a point, Wondo wasn’t the only one that missed at chance out there. Believe, I’m mad at him, but we had other chances we couldn’t put away. Granted that one and Dempseys chance after the free kick play might have been our best.
+1
Also hugely disappointed in Wondo for that shank and am sure he’ll have nightmares about it for years to come.
But what all the haters have not commented on is that he had been doing pretty well up to that point and his hard work, link up play, and harassing defenders actually lead to a few half chances for the US. A hustle play to pressure a defender lead to the throw in that started that whole sequence where he failed to finish. Wish he would have done better, but he was not the reason we lost.
Given all the crap that people on these boards gave to Altidore for not scoring, that was Wondos sole job– to poach. All of the people screaming for his inclusion over Altidore (and even justifying his inclusion over Donovan) must now eat some serious crow. All the hustle in the world cannot make up for shanking a golden opportunity to send the US into the quarterfinal.
exactly! Billy Buckner!!!
UCLA, Wonderwow, had a rubber foot in the most important moment of his soccer career.
Too bad, I thought maybe American raised players would have realized
you have the ball and the goal in front of you, you go at it with everything you have. as American bread players we still have to learn this.
now learn this please, finish! it is all that matters,
and that will never change.
Wam, and Leroux, or Morgan would have.
You three and everybody else on our ladies team remember this, and never forget it. Next year is your turn to bring it back home.
Absolutely, JIM He had two glorious chances to get even and screwed thwem both from 5 or 6 yartds away!
Joe N Santos
Of course we will never know if Donovan would have been able to score had he been in then, but I remember writing “Who do you want in the last few minutes of a game when you need a crucial goal–the internationally inexperienced Wondolowski or all time leading US scorer Landon Donovan?”
John Brooks
GW, Gary Page,
You two among others are old school,
been here since way back.
I may not always agree but I truly appreciate and
enjoy your thoughts, analysis, facts, and insight.
I remember you writing that, and I remember answering out loud “Effen Donovan” smh
There is zero doubt in my mind, Landon Donovan finishes that 10 out of 10 times. He is one of the guys who rises to the occasion. Wondo will remember that moment for the rest of his life. It was always a mistake to pin our World Cup hopes on an MLS overachiever. We had so many better options Aguedelo, Boyd, Donovan, Johannson who was on the sideline. JK made the wrong call. He got some right this tournament. He got some wrong too.
Absolutely. Everyone made a big deal of the 9 goals he had scored, but they all came in low pressure situations against teams like Belize and Mexico’s C team.
Remember how big a deal folks were making about the first half of that Mexico friendly? How Bradley was now some kind of #10? Now we see that first half for what it truly was…a mirage. Wondo and Bradley have to be the biggest goats of this tournament (throw in Brad Davis, too).
Nate,
Ah yes, a glass half empty type person.
Why do you look for goats? Are you going to hunt these people down and kill them? Or make it your mission in life to make their lives miserable? I would have thought you would have better things to do.
Besides, no matter what Wondo says he will be haunted by this for the rest of his life and will never ever, get a shot at making up for it. The man makes his living as a soccer player and now everything about soccer will remind him of possibly the worst moment of his life. He always wanted to go to the World Cup, I’ll bet he never thought it would turn into the nightmare it probably will for him. That should make you happy,though.
.
The USMNT and JK have nothing to be ashamed of. Their exit is due to bad luck and great goalkeeping by the Belgians.
The USMNT took a Belgian team that was literally twice as talented and held them handily for 90 minutes. Howard was great but he was great in no small part because he had a great defense working with him. The entire back four and the midfield kept everything manageable until the Belgians got tired and towards the end the US were getting their chances.
This is not ideal, it is the “hard way” that JK spoke off but that is what you do when you are outclassed and “out talented” a significant amount. When you stop being upset you might realize that this Belgian team is about as talented as any in the World Cup, are playing well, and have a great a chance to win it.
Argentina need to upgrade their play a LOT, if they want to survive.
Belgium earned their win but If Wondo puts that chance away Belgium are dead, finished and then we go to meet Argentina. It’s not fair but I have seen more than a few big games end this way.
That Wondo failed to put that chance away is really down to bad luck. Nine out of ten players of any description probably put that chance away. Would LD have put it away? Maybe but we’ll never know because he didn’t want to be there bad enough for us to find out.
And even after they went up 2-0 the US came back and really should have tied it but Belgium’s keeper was up to the task.
So go ahead and be mad but it’s a shame you can’t appreciate what a great team America had at the 2014 World Cup. Unlike you I am quite proud of them, all of them, even the PR people.
Oh yeah who could have predicted tht Wondolowski wouldn’t score against real competion and choke against a real team like he did? Oh yes ! Me and 99% of the US natl team fans outside of San Jose
LANDON WOULDA BURIED THAT!!!!!
Wondo was Klinsmans Ricardo Clark
Not quite his Clark. Wondo played because of injury to Altidore. Bob Bradley had no such excuse.