If you were like me (and tens of millions of Americans and Belgians), you were GLUED to yesterday’s World Cup knockout round game between USA and Belgium. Team USA fought hard, but we still lost and it was heartbreaking. But one good thing came out of the game: goalkeeper Tim Howard is now a SUPERSTAR. His defending skills have gone viral, he’s being called Team USA’s MVP and he made a historic number of saves: 16!!! The most saves in a World Cup game since 1966. Howard spoke to Matt Lauer this morning on Today. God, he’s so sexy.
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Tim told Matt, “I said last night we were heartbroken, and we were…Thirty-one teams go home heartbroken. Our journey ended just a little too soon. We felt like we played well yesterday. I don’t think the guys could’ve given any more after 120 minutes. We gave everything we had, and to be honest, we’re proud of that.” He also talks about how soccer/football has come into its own in American viewership, with the USA games getting some of the best viewership numbers of all time.
Anyway…Tim Howard is everything. EVERYTHING.
Despite the loss, Tim Howard’s record setting performance was monumental. pic.twitter.com/eaqF2Whkxq
— ESPN (@espn) July 1, 2014
In Tim Howard we trust #WorldCup #USA #Bel pic.twitter.com/RP2HrUjA36
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) July 1, 2014
Photos courtesy of WENN, Getty.
Love him! He sure got back from Brazil fast
He is awesome!!
4th of July should be renamed Tim Howard Appreciation Day.
I second that! What a great and humble guy.
I think it being Independence Day is a bit more meaningful haha
YUUUUsss *goes check those shirtless beardless pics*
There’s a White House petition to change Ronald Reagan National Airport (National) in DC to Tim Howard National Airport.
I can get behind that.
Love it!
Brilliant! Tim Howard for President!
And sorry to hijack this thread, but I wanted to preempt some of the incredibly condescending European comments below. *Cough* @carine (“It’s vaguely embarrassing how you all thought [the US] actually had a shot”), @lizzy, etc. Perhaps they are amongst some of the brits who flew to Brazil for the World Cup, only to realize upon landing that their team had been knocked out?
Make no mistake, the American soccer fans did not believe the US would take the World Cup. In fact, many of my soccer fan friends were praying for a mere tie against Portugal, and knew going into yesterday’s game that Belgium was the superior team. After all, we don’t push all of our talented youth into soccer, as do other countries. Our focus, unfortunately, imho, is more on American football and basketball.
Even though we were well aware of the US team’s limits, OF COURSE WE WANTED TO WIN. Yes, many of us knew we weren’t going to win, but during the matches you bet your uppity European a*ses that I was cheering for the US to win. That’s what one does in sports. We cheer for our team to win, we hope that our team wins, and we are sad when our efforts are not enough. Even if we knew, all along, that it was a long shot.
So thank you, Europeans, for your patronizing comments about how cute it is that Americans thought that we could win. But YOU are the ones that seem to misunderstand the situation. True sports fans cheer for their team, no matter their chances. So take your silly condescension and please stick it where the sun don’t shine. (Take the sticks out first, of course.)
Honestly almost everyone here is misunderstanding the situation, including you. Every thread has trolls, this one is no exception. There are about 2-3 posters who have a rude opinion, that’s about average here for Celebitchy. It has nothing to do with Europeans vs. Americans nor has it anything to do with condescension. Let’s be real, you don’t even know if they are Europeans. They might be, they might not be.
All we know is they are baiting, and everyone here is biting.
Being rude in return is not the answer. Don’t take the bait.
Just look at the first football related open post on Celebitchy. EVERYONE was commenting enthusiastically. The sourness came in the later posts, but it wasn’t the European CB-regulars who started that, it came out of nowhere.
@Sisi, if anyone is misunderstanding the entirety of the situation, it is you. Yes, I know how celebrity gossip threads work. I’ve been reading this site and its comments for about 6 years. There are trolls and rude opinions, people who bait and people who bite when they shouldn’t. I don’t bat an eyelash at that nonsense, and rarely do I comment.
But this is soccer – this isn’t celebrity gossip. It’s a completely different animal. Please don’t lump the two together. Unlike being invested in celebrities, people are rightfully invested in their soccer teams. They’ll defend their teams and they’ll insult other teams. They cry when their teams lose, and feel pure joy when their teams win. It’s how the sport goes.
Soccer fans, true soccer fans, European or otherwise ARE NOT TROLLS. It’s insulting and “rude,” as you put it, to call impassioned fans “trolls.” Yes, anonymous internet posters who hate on celebrities for no reason are trolls. But soccer fans whose opinions I strongly disagree with are not trolls. I don’t consider @lizzy, @carine, etc. trolls. They are soccer fans who are entitled to their opinions (even if I think their opinion is wrong).
So, yes, I will take their bait. And I’ll expect them to take mine. Why? Because this is soccer, a sport we (or at least I) love. And you d*amn well better believe I’ll defend my team.
PS: I know @lizzy is European because she said “I loved the way here in Europe…”
…
It’s still CeleBitchy though…
whether it’s about Brangelina or the World Cup, it’s the same commenters
Ok…and this is still a soccer post…?
I loved the way here in Europe, the US Team were treated like little brothers who just desperately wanted to play with the big boys and really thought they could win. And everyone was basically patting them on the head and going “of course you can win!”, like placating a child. I mean, the US played so brilliantly, but there was never a chance they would win. But good effort!
I disagree if the USA continues playing as well as they did in future matches I can now see them winning the World Cup one day whereas before I would say when pigs fly lol.
It’s also because soccer it’s not popular in the US as it is in Europe (here it is a religion,seriously), and everytime we see the US team playing a good game we’re a bit surprised.
For the record: the hottest player of the worldcup for me was the American one the one with dreadlocks !
Instead of patronizing US soccer and the US fans, be a little more gracious in realizing that for our country *unlike yours*, this is very much a growing sport. I have been playing since I was 5, and honestly when I was coming up, it was just starting to get a small following over here. I never understand when other countries that have a long-time established football culture look down on the US instead of encouraging the growth of the sport. Regardless of whether you think we had a chance of winning, the fact that we made it out of group play is a testament to the fact that we are not as deserving of your “pat on the head” consolation as you may think. So proud of our guys and so excited to see the sport gaining more and more traction over here. It’s just a shame we couldn’t get further since making it into the quarterfinals would have meant even more widespread viewership.
Also, Tim Howard is always spectacular. I am so glad he got to showcase it on a global stage. So deserving of the praise. And as a goalkeeper, even though I was depressed at the outcome, it was a truly amazing game to watch.
I’m sorry but Europeans are never going to tell you how excellent you are at soccer. America can’t demand praise just because you did kinda well. It doesn’t work like that. It’s vaguely embarrassing how you all thought they actually had a shot.
Chill, Brown – it’s only sport. People are always obnoxious to each other about it. In amelioration, Mr Sixer has only good things to say about Team USA over this World Cup and he is usually the most obnoxiously biased stereotype of hoping “the Yanks” come last at everything. So you won over at least one European!
Agree, Carine!
Carine: +1. Its a long way to the top and the US have no chance of getting there for the foreseeable future. They had a couple of good games and a lot of luck. Everyone else looks down on the US because they dont understand that you cant simply walk in and expect everyone to suddenly care that youre there just because youre the USA. As people have rightly put here, there a long cultural history of football and the US are going to have to work their way up there just like everyone else did. It doesnt help that they insist on calling it ‘soccer’ and constantly put it down against their own sports, the kind they have a ‘world series’ for despite being the only country playing…
I don’t see anyone demanding praise.
I see people asking others to not be condescending about the US’s chances and to acknowledge that it’s sort of new to a lot of us.
Yes, but Arch. The team played some nice football and the players conducted themselves well. No biting (hello Suarez), no endless underperforming (hello Rooney), no whining (hello almost everyone). The TEAM didn’t meet your stereotype, even if some of the commentators did (hello Ann Coulter) so you should really give credit where it’s due.
OMG. @Arch – we call it Soccer, because that’s a British abbreviation for “Association Football” (as opposed to “Rugger” for Rugby Football) and that’s how it was introduced in this country so many years ago. It was used in England for a long time, as well.
I think that’s the World Cup very neatly summed up, Sixer 🙂
I don’t think anyone was being patronizing, just saying that a lot of European fans were cheering on the US team and applauding its effort *because* they know that it’s relatively new here. Otherwise the coverage would have been far more critical.
@carine Nobody can deny that the European leagues are the best in the world, therefore the players as well. But embarrassing thinking the US had a shot over European teams? You know what’s embarrassing? Spain’s performance. The fact Italy, England and Portugal didn’t make it out of the group stages. France’s performance in South Africa 2010. Right now, my money is on Colombia taking it all, because Brazil has poor defense, Germany could barely win vs. Algeria, same with the Netherlands and Mexico. Yesterday, the US was unlucky as many shots didn’t go in, but it’s the beauty of the sport. So don’t be so demeaning of other teams just because they aren’t European, they can surprise you.
Thank you brown. We don’t need your pat on the head, carine, or your condescension, arch. We’ve been growing slowly, but steadily as a soccer (football) nation ever since the 94 World Cup. Yes, it’s going to take us a couple more decades to get within reaching distance of being elite. No, we aren’t quite there yet, but when you consider that almost all of our elite athletes choose to go into baseball, football and basketball instead of soccer, I’d say we’re working pretty well with what we have. In literally every other country in the world, all of your best athletes choose soccer. You get the cream of the crop.
And funny how the little brothers of this cup have managed to send home Portugal, Italy, Spain and England. The football superstar countries. No is demanding praise. I personally think we played some really $hitty football for long stretches and there is vast room for improvement. I don’t expect Europeans to respect us at all. But we do always give 110%, we aren’t whiny divers and we play a respectful game, which is more than I can say about a lot of teams.
So keep patting us on the head, and when we start blowing by you in 5-10 years you’ll realize you shouldn’t have been so condescending.
Oh, and mad props to Costa Rica! At least CONCACAF is getting represented in the quarters!
LOL at all these condescending European comments. Whatever, I say let em have soccer… it’s kind of all they have 😉
@jay Come on now, you don’t want to get into what Europe has over America. We’re good at soccer, we don’t shoot up schools every week, we’ve got the respect of the international community and aren’t treated like the bullish brutes who ruin countries a couple of tines every decade.
Oh….and we will always be better than you at soccer…and art…and culture and most other things. So please, stop and take your incredibly mediocre football team with you.
#MERICA
@ GiGi
THANK YOU!!!
I’m European and I hate it when people get all obnoxious and arrogant about the soccer vs. football nomenclature, without actually informing themselves on the subject. It makes themselves look (willingly) uneducated.
As for the condescending European comments, they are simply embarrassing. USA showed an interestingly good performance in the World Cup and I heard a lot of guys here praising their skills. I confess I was not rooting for them. They played against “my” team and I can see that people find it annoying that just because it’s an important country that could instantly mean that now they are great in football even though they are not that well ranked. Still, truth is that they did very well and they showed that things are changing in the football world 🙂
Practically every kid I know plays soccer now-this sport has been growing in popularity here in the US for many years and rightly so. To me, only hockey is more exciting (personal taste here) than soccer. It’s amazing to watch a match. So much to admire. 🙂
@Sixter-I don’t think there is anyone outside of Fox News who takes Ann Coulter seriously. That woman is a national embarrassment.
@carine Wow. i’m NOT a patriotic person but your comments have irked the inner (2nd generation) American spirit in me. You sound pretty bitter & condescending & I don’t understand…what is your goal? Are you trying to bring Americas soccer team, fans, and press down JUST because WE decided to embrace our mens team with the hopeful, charismatic, optimistic, and tenacious attitude that is ENGRAINED in the American spirit? Yes, WE ARE SCRAPPY, WE ARE UNEXPERIENCED, TOO BALLSY, but we are also FULL OF HEART! This is simply the American approach to sports… the never give up, persistent, spunky, last-minute-success- belief, that seems to IRRITATE TO NO END other countries/people looking on…and I say this as a child of immigrant parents. Tbh, this spirit will not change and if it bugs you this much that we are overly optimistic, i’m sorry.
@ sighs
There are OTHER popular sports in Europe, you know. I’m in the UK and in the area I live (south west England), football really isn’t that popular. People watch it and follow it but it’s far from the most popular sport. These are rugby, cricket and motorsport. I have two sons and neither dreams of scoring in the World Cup final. One dreams of scoring a century in an Ashes test and the other of captaining England to Six Nations glory. State schools have feeder links with rugby teams, not football teams. Kids who show sporting promise around here rarely go into football.
I get it that it’s upsetting when you’ve got all excited over a tournament and snotty gits are obnoxious about your nascently successful team. But displaying your ignorance of sporting traditions across the world is really just being rude back, you know? It doesn’t get us anywhere.
What I have liked about Team USA this World Cup (and some of the other smaller teams) is that their game and team is less tainted by the problems (diving, whining, shirt tugging, etc ad infinitum) that infect the biggest footballing nations and leagues, thanks to the big business it has become. It was refreshing and joyful.
@carine I don’t know what is worse… your ignorance or the painfully obvious signs you are a bitter, miserable and sad little person. I am not American but I live there in a large city and I can tell you nobody at all thought USA would go anywhere. It was fun for everyone to just participate. Most of my American friends started out rooting for other teams actually and after USA lost they then found other teams to start supporting. This makes them more open minded and better people than you.
I think there are some things you need to work on. You clearly have personal issues.
@carine: I’m European, too, but I don’t share your rather arrogant attitude. I actually found the US team quite strong, particularilly against Belgium. It’s not a national sport in the US, but obviously one with a good perspective. I also don’t think that a lot of Americans thought their team would win this World Cup, but of course they support it anyway- which is what every soccer fan does. And don’t get too exited about European soccer…the UK, Spain, Italy and Portugal are out already, Germany had to fight hard to win over Algeria, so had The Netherlands, to stay in the game against Mexico. Why can’t we just enjoy this beautiful sport, and cheer the efforts of all the different teams? Events like this are actually meant to unite and connect, not to divide us.
You mustn’t be in Britain, because I’d have had something to say if you were. 🙂
And I’m British, fellow disappointed Lions fans!
@Arch and @Carine: Wow, that’s some vitriol. We didn’t embarrass ourselves; we were proudly cheering for our country, just like every other country in the World Cup.
We never seriously thought that we had a chance to win–Klinnsman himself said that. We were just excited that we’re getting better and better as soccer grows in the United States. For those who think that the US just doesn’t “get” soccer, look at our women’s team, which is arguably (and currently, by FIFA standards) the best in the world. If we’re frustrated, it’s because there are people like you who seem to have a vendetta against us instead of just focusing on the mutual love we all have for this sport.
VileBody – to be fair, I don’t think Europeans are behaving any differently than Americans do during Summer Olympics with basketball and The Dream team.
Um woah. Didn’t mean to start ww3. Lol. I actually didn’t really mean it in a bad way. I just thought it was funny the way the coverage went. I find the blind optimism of the US kind of hilarious.
You’re right. Of course. Why bother trying? We’ll never amount to anything. May as well give up and go home… because that’s how we’ll improve! Sheesh.
Seriously, please tell me how one does well at sports (or anything really) without optimism.
Can see both sides here as an American living in the U.K. You have to listen to the snarky British presenters talking about the lack of “talent” when the U.S. team put England to shame and Scotland can’t even get in to the World Cup. To be fair they did praise their sportsmanship as a team to high heaven after yesterday’s match, they really gave it their all and could have easily gone through had they had a lucky break.
As for the optimism/expecting to win, I was slightly bemused when the U.S. fans were STUNNED at the loss to Argentina thanks to Messi, the greatest player in the world right now. It is just unusual for football fans to be confident, most football (er Soccer to my fellow patriots) fans are biting their nails until the last seconds, but the U.S. fans haven’t been watching long enough to appreciate the threat of defeat is always there. I admire their optimism but as someone used to British football coverage, the party’s not over til it’s over. Last night was a gut wrencher though, the U.S. team have nothing to be ashamed of and I really hope the country gets behind the sport more now – though they will probably forget all about it until the next World Cup!
As an American I didn’t expect a win, but I did think it was cool to see the US team giving their all. I mean, it is a game, all about having peaceful fun. I am more amused at people getting into bouts of political mud slinging on a gossip website. Though I must say, I thought some select groups of Americans lead the world in the ignorance and self-righteousness categories. Europa has proved me wrong on that score 🙂
@arch & @carine kind of like that Americans don’t dominate footie, however I was extremely proud of our team. The fact you found it hilarious about the nations optimism is kind of a shame. I have always felt that World Cup was a chance to unify the world. I feel like overall, the fans were humble about the loss. Sure you have the loudmouth, über competitive, stereotypical American but as a whole there was a really feel good air to watching our boys. As a first generation American, (my mom is Mexican and my dad Irish/english) there are things I am not proud of America for, things I know we need to work on. I have travelled the world , I am not disillusioned about this country. I don’t agree with the government and I don’t think we’re number one. That whole “‘murica” BS is not everyone in this country. That being said, your comment seems less about our team but a commentary on the country. Side note, bringing up school shootings? Low. Really low. It’s sickening when it happens and the people fighting against the recurrence and for prevention are facing one hell of a battle. I wonder where you’ve visited in the States, if at all. If you’re a true lover of the sport I would think you would enjoy all the aspects that make a sport like this so great: the upsets, the drama, the athleticism, the determination. Things evolve including sports and you just laughing it off is like I said, a shame. I think it was an exciting Cup for footie fans in America and all the teams played their hearts out. *global hug*.
@chloee I was replying to the person who said football was the only thing europe had going for it.
Your whole global hugs schtick is ridiculous. The World Cup is full of political and racial and cultural connotations. That’s why it’s such serious business. So America waltzing in and playing well is just thought of as light hearted and not to be taken seriously. Which is fine. No one thought they would win so it was nice that they played well and hopefully got the sport some new fans.
But basically don’t expect the respect of established football nations because you got to a round of 16 match. You have to earn it.
And don’t be so twee….global hugs? Give me a break.
@Carine. Holy Mother of God… lighten up. Perhaps your quality of life would improve if you were less acidic of a person.
@carine wow, so no team besides the winning team should be taken seriously? are you kidding me? I’m pretty sure everyone watching the games knows that the US won’t win the world cup, at least not anytime soon. But why shouldn’t they be taken seriously? These men worked hard and trained train, flew to another country to participate in a competition knowing they might not even get out of group stage. I feel like that deserves some respect and acknowledgement, as does all teams that participated win or lose.
Do you know who doesn’t respect other people that works hard and tries hard? Snobs. I know that like in the US, not everyone is an idiot, not everyone in Europe are condescending snob like you.
As a note, I am not sad about US’s lost. I never expected them to get out of group and i was very excited that they did and any wins after that was just bonus. They played well and showed that they are capable of getting better and i look forward to seeing them get better.
Anyways. GO NETHERLANDS!
Yes. That was heartbreaking. And yes, I want to play with his beard along with other parts of his body.
He is rather a good looker, I must say.
Tim Howard was amazing last night.
Can I just say and I hope I don’t get attacked for this, I was one of those foreigners who never took American Football seriously, but I have been blown away by the USA team this World Cup.
You guys played hard and with such tenacity it was beautiful.
It was heartbreaking watching you guys lose yesterday but USA played really really well and that is something to be proud of.
I’m proud we made it out of our group. Everyone said we would never and we did.
ETA: Shout out to Belgium for being such cool and ace guys from beginning to end.
That was a great game, and every single player was a class act on both sides. No sissy whining or diving, no biting.
Both sides demonstrated fair play and good sportsmanship. No crying, whining, etc.
I was gutted with this loss, but so proud of the US. I’ m so glad that my team proved to be a force to reckon with. Don’t underestimate us!
Tim Howard played with heart and I was in tears whem I heard him speak after the game. They gave it their all. But I still think his performance deserved a win.
Either way….#respect
That was classic sportsmanship from start to finish; I think I was on my feet for the last half hour of the game. Such a pleasure to watch both teams perform.
You know you can be proud of the way they lost, when you do a match like the US team and you loose it’s heartbreaking, but you can’t really be mad with the players.
Last night I’ve watched Germany-Algeria and at a certain point I was team Algeria: their game wasn’t beautiful, but you could see they were giving their heart.
yeah I agree about Algeria!
I was rooting for Germany in the beginning, but was actually gutted when they scored their second goal XD
Algeria made me love them during this tournament. Maybe it’s because I managed to catch their games more often than some of the other countries’ games, but they had so much heart – plus honestly, I did think they were the best-looking team overall. 🙂
I felt the same way about Nigeria. With the (2!) horrible bombings that had occurred during FIFA rallies, I was really hoping they would go far.
@menlisa. Thank you for that gracious comment as opposed to a few others I’ve read that were downright rude.
I guess I’m the only foreigner that was taking the US team seriously. I knew they would give Belgium a hard time and it’s not because I’m cheering for the american teams, but because they proved to be better fighters than the europeans in the first phase of the championship. And because of their tenacity I think they would stand a better chance against the argentinians. Too bad everybody I’m cheering for is leaving…
honestly the whole thing seems a little bit blown out of proportion imo. English, Belgian and Dutch tv all talked about how team USA’s excellent stamina and defense skills that were not to be underestimated. They were taken very seriously.
agree with JudyK. yours was a gracious comment.
thanks for your support!
Thanks menlisa. You are class.
+1
I’m a yank. Love football, futbol, soccer…. And love the WC and regularly watch la liga and EPL. I never thought team USA had a chance in hell to get out of the group stage. I completely wrote them off before I gave them a chance. Last WC, I couldn’t stand the team..particularly Donovan, Bradley and the couch Bradley. …..but have always loved Howard.
Going in to this WC, they win me over! First off, we have a class A real deal, respectful, knowledgable and excellent coach in Jurgi! Second off, he made no false promises, didn’t take Donovan and put together a team with heart and gumption! I’ve never watched an MLS match, couldn’t name one player on my home team… Now I walk away with all these great American players that I’m excited to watch! From the sheer shock and excitement of Brooks goal in the first game, to the speed of Beasley, to Jermaine Jones heart and Kyle Beckerman….wow! We have a great team of characters and most obvious to me, no superstar, just one team.
When the likes of Spain, Italy, England, Portugal all go home but the excitement of Costa Rica, Columbia and Belgium remain. Why knock the yanks? This isn’t about politics, it’s about sport!
I was cheering on the Iranian, Ghana, Chile, and Mexico teams because I loved their heart. I was supporting the Dutch but hated how they won the match against Mexico.
I guess my point is we should cease with all these bullshit stereotypes of countries and embrace the goodness that comes from sport! I loved chatting with people on the first open WC board. I didn’t care what country they were from or who they supported. It was something positive and entertaining as opposed to another typical sad, tragic day in this world.
sigh
USA did very well but I can’t hide my happiness at Belgium going through. They have an amazing team (who are quite easy on the eyes…hello eden hazard).
Thank God the US can go back to not caring about soccer. Now the sports channels can go back to covering less boring sports.
Eight weeks until the start of college football!
These types of comments are so dumb. If you don’t care to watch, just change the channel.
If it’s so boring to you maybe don’t watch it? I’m not american but I know there are plenty of people who love the sport and follow it all year round and are by no means a fairweathered fan.
Exactly. Like golf.
For the most impact, read the above phrase in a whisper.
Thank you, Ann Coulter.
CACKLING @ Ann Coulter. She is such a troll.
Ha! Best comment yet.
OMG. Spot on.
Win!
LOL!!!
LOL
@KB so much for not caring about soccer that you are commenting on a soccer thread.. @GoodNames, you win the internet today.
…and this is exactly the comment that makes us look stupid. Soccer is way more exciting than American football to me. And on top of that, the sports stations aren’t going to stop covering the WORLD cup just because America is out. Hint: WORLD Cup. To each his own.
JERSEY REPRESENT!!!
+1 Lots of Jersey guys on the squad this year.
He was amazing during the match against Belgium.
I’ve been saying forever that Howard’s underrated on the USNMT.
Not to take away from Howard, but there have been a lot of great goalkeeping performances this WC – Ochoa, Neuer, Cesar, Enyeama & Navas, Lloris, the Algerian goalie whose name unfortunately I can’t recall, for example.
Rais M’Bolhi is the Algerian keeper.
Imo he’s been the best keeper of the tournament, he was amazing to watch. A revelation.
Howard used to play for Manchester and still plays for Everton, so I’ve already seen him play many times and knew he was very talented.
Howard couldn’t even catch a cold when he was playing for us….he’s come a long way!
lmao
I do remember a couple of incredible blunders, yeah 😀
Yep me and boyfriend were amazed by his performance! And I was really sad when they lost. They deserved much more.
I agree. The keepers this Cup have largely been on top of their game. Tim Howard was superb last night but when the goalkeeper is the best player on the field, you know something’s not right. Belgium played better than the US, no question.
The keepers have been great this cup. I don’t think Howard has really been underrated, at least by most US soccer fans. We’ve always loved our Timmmay. That’s the one position we’ve always had depth. I think Brad Guzan is next up in the cycle.
I wish he could have won MVP. He was amazing yesterday.
They fought until the last second and it would have been great and deserved if they had scored the 2-2 at least and made it into penalty.
Tim Howard is everything! It´s really great to see that Americans are finally embracing football 🙂
He was amazing. The guy was under seige the whole time – it was just one save after another.
He held the team together. No wonder Tim Howard vs Belgium was trending world wide.
I watched a few of the post game interviews and he seems like a class player too. Very humble. (And also damn hot!)
Never was into soccer and didn’t watch any of the world cup but gosh, he’s got beautiful eyes!
That last half hour was fab footie!
Sadly, I had to miss that game 🙁 but I’ve watched every other game with US and I have to say CALLED IT LOL I always felt like the rest of the team needed to tighten up, but Howard was like a boss. I asked my soccer expert ex-husband, “Am I wrong, or is he an amazing goalie? He’s blowing my mind!” And he was like, “Nope, you’re right.” Without him, we would not have made it as far as we did, I’m sure of that!
The team has potential, too bad they had to go home already. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for more people in the US continuing to support the team instead of hating on Klinsi because he’s German, hating on the foreign-born players, who’re from Germany for the most part. And for people to stop hating on the sport in general – e.g. ignorants like Ann Coulter.
Tim Howard is my favorite goalie, bar none. (Sorry @ my team’s one, Manuel N.)
He saved our A$$ most of that game. Great job.
And to those making comments about the US being “cute” or “thinking we had a chance”. Come off it. Of course we knew we didn’t have a chance at winning the World Cup. But this game has been growing here – my kids are third generation soccer players and it IS exciting to see our country get into the sport so many of us love. And, like many who saw what the really young players did yesterday, I have hope for the next Cup!
*1000
No American seriously thought we would win but our guys did an impressive job. #proud
YES!!
It’s gonna take some time, and frankly when we have other major sports here that lots of parents and coaches try to steer kids into because they’re more traditionally popular (and in which you can make tons of $$ in salary and advertising Nike or whatever if you go pro), it’s not going to be easy. But it’s gonna happen. I never in my LIFE would have predicted that I’d be sitting in a bar full of major rednecks screaming at the tv (and I was only in THAT bar because the first two I went to were so packed I couldn’t even find space) and cheering on our guys in a soccer match. Crazy. Awesome.
Howard was absolutely amazing! It should have been 10 goals but he was impenetrable. Tim Howard should make his own brand of condoms. I would buy them! Score and be saved! Hehe
“Tim Howard should make his own brand of condoms. I would buy them! Score and be saved! Hehe”
LOL! But, you know, there are still those 2% or 3% of failure (I guess that would equal the two times Belgium scored).
HA!!!!! I would buy Tim Howard condoms. Ain’t nothing getting past those love gloves.
Tim Howard was the saviour of the USA team last night against a strong Belgium attack- Eden Harzard, Kevin de Bruyne, Dries Mertens,Romelu Lukaku.
In all honesty,without him USA would have been down with a big margin,probably 3-1 or more despite playing quite well.
This is a new era of football or soccer as it’s called in the US cos I believe the team have got a promising future if they remain consistent.
Anyway,this world cup is full of surprises. It’s either you play so well and lose or the reverse.
Chile,Mexico,Algeria,Switzerland and Nigeria played brillantly against their opponents but lost. I guess luck was on the side of the bigger teams.
Am a diehard Chelsea fan and Belgium has 3 of our players in their 1st 11. Thibaut Coutois(goal keeper),Eden Harzard and Romelo Lukaku who scored in yesterday’s game are all Chelsea FC star players. Moreover the Belgium team is kinda under-rated so I want them to go all the way. Truth is I want a new winner in this year’s FIFA world cup not the same old…
Holland,Belgium or Columbia are brillant in this tournament – though refered to as underdogs – so any of them as winners would be awesome.
With all this talk about Tim Howard I think Belgium’s performance yesterday is getting ignored.
I’m rooting for Colombia because they’ve been playing such joyful soccer/football (and also that England’s out), but I also want Costa Rica to do well.* Now there’s an underdog team!
* Hope I didn’t just jinx it for either of them
I agree about Belgium. They were amazing, just missed that last bit of accuracy to actually put the ball within the goal, not right beside it. Also there were many opportunities where the player with the ball should have played the ball to the striker walking right next to him in from of the goal instead of shooting himself, because Howard went out of the goal often and that also creates space for attacks from other angles. But they just didn’t notice their teammates of wanted the glory for themselves.
Creating 16 opportunities to score says a lot about them too.
I thought Belgium played fantastically. I’m now rooting for them to win the cup. I do think they’re a dark horse to make a deep run!
Tim Howard was the saviour of the USA team against a strong Belgium attack- Eden Harzard, Kevin de Bruyne, Dries Mertens,Romelu Lukaku.
In all honesty,without him USA would have been down with a big margin,probably 3-1 or more despite playing quite well.
This is a new era of football or soccer as it’s called in the US cos I believe the team have got a promising future if they remain consistent.
Anyway,this world cup is full of surprises. It’s either you play so well and lose or the reverse.
Chile,Mexico,Algeria,Switzerland and Nigeria played brillantly against their opponents but lost. I guess luck was on the side of the bigger teams.
Am a diehard Chelsea fan and Belgium has 3 of our players in their 1st 11. Thibaut Coutois(goal keeper),Eden Harzard and Romelo Lukaku who scored in yesterday’s game are all Chelsea FC star players. Moreover the Belgium team is kinda under-rated so I want them to go all the way. Truth is I want a new winner in this year’s FIFA world cup not the same old…
Holland,Belgium or Columbia are brillant in this tournament – though refered to as underdogs – so any of them as winners would be awesome.
It felt like a lot of my European friends were really happy, even gleeful, that the US lost yesterday… which is really rubbing me the wrong way. Because we didn’t get a beatdown, unlike Germany vs Portgual or Netherlands vs Spain. So it came off like sour grapes, sort of. We weren’t embarrassed in any of the games we played! We made it out of the group of death, after all. A bit by luck but mostly due to our own skill. I guess I don’t get how you can sneer about the US being new to the game and how we have a lot to learn and then be really sour and not happy about the progress we did show during this World Cup.
Anyway Kaiser you should also cover how the delicious Michael Ballack is an ESPN analyst. Mmm mmmm mmmmmmm.
I agree we didn’t get a bit down. I work for a German company, and none of them had a bad thing to say about the US team most were hopefull and we both got thru they said it was the best situation. I know we have a long way to go and I am in the UK but we will be victors at some point we haven’t been playing as long also it will never be like American football as you can’t stop the game and no ad breaks which puts sponsors off. I am not a football fan but I did enjoy it last night but too stressfull and at 1120p had to go to bed AND that Howard is HOT HOT HOT HOT… damn if Everton ever play Tottenham I might have to go 🙂
I agree with most that you say…Still, I also think that if Germany would have seriously played against the USA the story could (and I stress here “could” not would) be different… Anyhow, USA did really great and that goal keeper is amazing and the group was not called the group of death for nothing. For me it was the most exciting group till now, since even though in the end it was quite favorable to Germany and USA, there was still a door open to any of the other two (specially for Ghana).
Personally,I don’t think many people wanted the US to lose,but I can see how they can be annoyed at how the US,despite being relatively an underdog in this game acted the opposite,lacking humbleness. And I’m not talking about the team but about the overall coverage. Time magazine had a lenghty article about the fact that allegedly the whole world hates Team USA because we want to finally see you fail in something* rolls eyes*. I found it condescending and self centered and I doubt people feel this way.
That said I didn’t wish failure to any team,I just wanted to enjoy a good game and see my team win 🙂
yeah that narrative has been overplayed enormously this tournament by the media and through it they are doing the actual team an enormous disservice and they are basically feeding people who have not been up-to-date with the soccer tournaments misinformation, creating drama where there was hardly any. It’s aggravating.
Every team has supporters, every team has haters.
Honestly I don’t get the hoopla about USA being an underdog and all these dramatic posts being created about everyone being better than the USA and how they defied the football establishment and the pitting against Europe. We don’t need a sappy movie storyline. They don’t need a sappy movie storyline.
They are 13th on the world ranking list for goodness sakes.
That’s higher than France (17th), the Netherlands (15th) and Costa Rica (28th) and many many others.
Belgium hadn’t even qualified these past twelve years for the World Cup.
Team USA are good, doing just fine and have been doing just fine for quite a while now.
Belgium vs. USA was a match between numbers 11 and 13. Obviously it would be a close and competitive match.
Now Germany vs. Algeria was more like it: that was the no. 2 versus no 22. That’s a true David and Goliath match. And it was awesome.
Bowing at this comment. Thank you. The US did great and so did Belgium. I’m actually pulling for them now because of their class act yesterday.
The ranking has nothing to do with the actual game as it is highly influenced by the player’s individual habilities. At the end of the 2006 Worldcup, FIFA considered Argentina the best team of the world even though we didn’t pass the quarter finals.
as far as I know it’s mostly influenced by points from matches with a multiplication factor for the strength of the opponent and importance of the event (kinda like the tennis ranking), spread over 4 years time. meaning one bad tournament doesn’t necessarily mean an immense fall per se, it’s an average accumulated over 4 seasons. In 2005 they became 2nd in the confed cup, which also weighs heavily, and they did well in the qualifying tournament placing 2nd.
I am from Belgium..so of course i did root for our boys…the game started here at 10 pm..i wasn t even gonna watch it completely..because have to wake up early for work..but man was i glued..usa did a great job..given the fact that belgium has many players playing in big clubs..howard was amazing..17 attacks blocked!!! FORMIDABLE!!! Unfortunately US played a bit too defensive in the beginning and not enough attacks..it was an amazing game and after 1-1 i thought we were going home..there were some dangerous moments and everyone started to be tired..people should know that a team can t win bc of 1 or 2 starplayers ( messi..ronaldo..) but due to a good teamwork..the stars of this cup are def. Goalies usa and algeria!!!@
Congrats!
When is the Women’s World Cup? Do we still have one? I thought here in the US we got rid of our women’s pro league but I guess we didn’t (?) according to the reports I was reading from what happened w/Solo last week.
But I’m very proud of our men’s team. I, too, was one of those who believed we wouldn’t advance given the men’s past but they played their damnest yesterday. I went to a restaurant w/a friend to watch the game & I had so much fun being w/a group of people cheering. Good times.
next year, from the 6th of june to the 5th of july. the under 20 World cup for ladies is this august.
Thanks.
I am pleased that I got to see him play for the US national team and I am also please that I will see him play for Everton when the Premier League starts up again (thank god for NBC Sports channel!)
I’m Irish – our football team is shiiite, a national shame and disappointment. Team USA would’ve beaten our arses had we managed to even qualify and guess what? We’re European! Anyway, my point is that Irish people are more than capable of being snarky about Americans but this World Cup a lot of us were rooting for Team USA and I have friends in Portugal and the Netherlands who were supporting your team as well. Maybe it’s because Irish football has sucked for a long time now but I don’t get the vitriol towards US supporters who don’t particularly understand the rules or traditions of football. I don’t fully understand the rules or traditions of rugby and was never a fan in my younger days but quite frankly as our national rugby team has improved, I’ve become a supporter. Whether football, rugby or otherwise, it’s a pleasure to watch your country’s team when they’re skilled enough to play a good game and even have a shot at winning. It’s a nice social activity, even if you don’t get what’s happening at every single moment. Also, I’ve always thought that one of the pleasures of the World Cup was seeing teams and players you didn’t know much about previously (like Algeria, who played their hearts out). I certainly wouldn’t call USA an underdog but their football team is little known on the world stage and it’s really quite pleasant to see them play good games (without biting or showboating too!)
Oh and one of the nice things about not qualifying is that you can enjoy other teams’ victories or great performances. For example, one of our popular national radio shows here was following a fan from each qualifying country; the morning after a match they would talk to the fan from each competing team. At the risk of sounding very Pollyanna, it was a good example of what the World Cup should be – cohesive rather than devisive. Now all we gotta do is get FIFA to donate their dirty profits to the Brazilian families they displaced having stadia built at their behest!
I was wondering where the Irish team was. Thanks for your awesome post! I’m one of those people who learned about lots of new teams for the first time as were lots of Americans.
Since we’re not as good a team, I think we Americans have fun with it because it’s not a life or death thing for us. So we lost? Who cares. We still had fun cheering on our team and got to watch Tim Howard in all his glory make a record-breaking 16 saves. We knew we wouldn’t make it too far. Making it past the qualifying rounds was an added bonus. Someday we may be a more serious soccer presence in the international scene. You Europeans may scoff at the idea (Hi Carine, you must be fun at parties), but then I feel like we are used to the world making fun of us at this point. Mark my words though. Europe will not dominate the soccer scene forever.