(Photo Credit: india.com)
Seconds. That’s how close the United States was from guaranteeing themselves a spot in the round of 16. However, they found themselves on the wrong end of the stoppage time magic this time around. What started as a bad turnover on the part of Michael Bradley, ended in a gorgeous cross from the foot of Christiano Ronaldo to the head of Varela for the equalizing goal in the closing seconds of the match.
If the United States had pulled out the victory, it would have eliminated Portugal from cup contention and would have given the U.S. a two-point advantage over Germany ahead of their matchup on Thursday. But, who needs to feel comfortable? It’s the World Cup!
Much like their game against Ghana the United States had some positives and negatives to take away. They didn’t exactly put themselves in the right position early on with sloppy defending. Geoff Cameron’s botched clearance in the opening minutes gave way to a gift goal by Nani giving Portugal a quick 1-0 lead.
The United States seemed to settle in following the miscue as they pushed the attack and generated a variety of scoring opportunities. Jermaine Jones, Clint Dempsey and Bradley were all particularly aggressive early on despite not scoring in the first half.
I was pleased to see the United States kept up their tempo coming out of the break as they continued to test Portugal’s defense. The Portugal team as a whole was banged up from their matchup with Germany, but the suspension to center back Pepé was particularly damaging. The U.S. was able to exploit some holes in the Portuguese defense, which gave way to some threatening chances.
Finally in the 64th minute a rocket from Jones outside the box froze the Portugal keeper Beto and landed in the back of the net, tying the game at 1-1. You just knew at some point the United States was going to equalize and with that goal the momentum swung in favor of the red, white, and blue.
Then in the 81st minute it was Captain America’s turn as the ball, bouncing around in the Portuguese box found the chest of Dempsey to give the United States a 2-1 advantage with time running out. The goal was Dempsey’s second of the tournament.
The ensuing nine minutes seemed to drag on for an eternity as the United States struggled to retain possession. Two late substitutions from Jurgen Klinsmann brought Chris Wondolowski and Omar Gonzalez on to the pitch to help the U.S. close things out. Wondolowski did an excellent job bringing the ball into the corner to burn out some clock, but the Portuguese still had a little fire left in them.
Ronaldo, who had seemingly been not existent this entire World Cup recovered a turnover in midfield and delivered a sensational ball to Varela for the equalizer. The game ended in a draw 2-2.
As of now the United States and Germany are tied for first at four points each, while Ghana and Portugal are tied for third with one point each. For the United States all they need on Thursday is a win or a draw to advance to the round of sixteen, likewise for the Germans.
I have heard a lot of people saying why not just agree to play the game out and end it in a tie? Of course that won’t happen, but that wouldn’t be beneficial for the United States anyway because Germany would still beat them in goal differential.
So what’s the difference between first and second place in the group of death? If the United States were to finish second right now in group G, they would face the winner of group H, which right now would be Belgium. If the United States were to win group G, they would face the second place team in group H, which right now would be Algeria. For those who might not know, Belgium is MUCH better than Algeria.
So the United States still have work to do against Germany if they want to advance to the round of sixteen. Of course we wanted a win today against Portugal, but let’s not be greedy. No one in their right mind would have even thought the United States would be this close to advancing out of the so called “Group of Death”, much less having the chance to win it!
The U.S. certainly needs to clean up their play and avoid the cheap mistakes on the field because as the World Cup progresses the games don’t get any easier. For now all we can do is wait, patiently, until Thursday at 11:00 AM when the United States takes on Germany.
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