USA a Success!

COMMENT: Klinsmann's side had a chance to make history and continue to captivate a nation on Tuesday, but a lacklustre performance saw their World Cup dream end

By Ives Galarcep in Salvador, Brazil

For the better part of 94 minutes, it felt inevitable that Belgium would wind up beating the USA. But for every minute of regulation, and three minutes of extra time, the Americans held on, giving their fans hope that they could pull off an upset against the star-studded Belgians.

When the final whistle blew to end regulation time, they had somehow managed to stave off Belgium’s relentless attack, with Tim Howard having the best World Cup game of his career. Unfortunately, what the Americans needed more than a hot goalkeeper and tough defence was creative players to generate chances and keep the ball away from Belgium.

Without those things, all the Americans could do was take punch after punch, for more than 90 minutes, before Belgium inserted forward Romelu Lukaku to finish off a tired defence. Lukaku helped Belgium deliver the knockout blow by setting up Kevin De Bruyne’s goal before scoring his own.

The Americans didn’t go out without a fight though, responding to the two Belgium goals with a frantic and exciting finish that nearly saw them pull off a miracle comeback. Julian Green’s volley gave them life, but Thibaut Courtois made a key late save to preserve the Belgium victory and deny the USA team’s desperate fight for survival.

The Belgium victory was a fair result, even if it was a sad one for an American team that had inspired a nation and helped boost the sport’s profile back home. The Americans needed to be at their best if they were going to beat the Belgians, but they failed to deliver until it was already too late.

The US closed out the match with a strong 15 minutes that gave Belgium all they could handle, and provided a teasing glimpse of what might have been if the Americans had played the entire match with the same sense of urgency they showed in the second half of extra time.

It was too little, too late though, and we are left to consider what this World Cup means for the US team going forward.