Tim Howard deserves a medal for how many saves he has tonight.
Lukaku has been amazing since coming on. I know he has fresh legs, and is playing against people who have been on the field 90 minutes longer, but i get the feeling that Belgium might have scored earlier had he been on the field during regular time.
It’s 2-1 now. I certainly didn’t see that coming in such a short timespan . . .
That was a really imaginative free kick, and it almost came off.
That was an exciting game, from start to finish.
Damn good game that.
wow, some of these lads are going to be unable to walk for a week after this. Massive effort from both teams. They can barely put one foot in front of another.
Ah! final whistle. Well done Belgium. They’ll certainly provide a massive test for Argentina.
And very well done to the USA. If that drama doesn’t draw many more fans in then nothing will.
I also have to say that the game was played in a really good spirit. Very little nastiness on either side and enormous respect all round. I think that the American’s approach may rub off on their opponents and if for no other reason than that we need the USA regularly competing at the highest level.
Deserved result for Belgium. In the US it’s going to be about how Wondo could have stolen it for Howard, and about the resolve shown in the last 15 minutes. Looking forward to seeing Green and Yedlin for the next decade, and hoping for more depth to develop so we don’t have something similar to the Jozy situation next time around.
Fantastic game. The Belgians dominated the first 90 minutes, and probably should have won it in regulation time, but the US fought hard all day, and really came alive in extra time.
Both keepers were amazing, and Howard was almost superhuman at times.
The US won a lot of fans this time around. The State Department should send them to Syria and Russia. Seriously.
What a second found we have had. 5 ET and or Penalties. 6 matches could have gone anywhere, until the last second.None except the Columbia Uraguay one was a walkover.
What an amazing game! I don’t know how either team still had the energy in overtime. The clean play, energy and desire from both teams was refreshing.
Such a difference to the earlier game today.
That game pretty much sums up the appeal of football. Sheer graft and teamwork can match technical superiority and 2-0 is both a mountain a climb and still remains precarious. As we saw, a single goal changes everything.
As a US fan, I think that Belgium deserved the win. But also very proud of the US side, they fought the good fight. I hope that now, the US development system finally figures out that you have to train fucking ball possession. When I see youth soccer practices, it is about 80% dribbling and shooting. The real game at high levels is about 80% passing and ball possession.
Disclaimer: I have no real playing experience at soccer, but I do love the sport.
It was up for the goal kick.
I stayed out of the thread all day because I was going to watch the matches on DVR and didn’t want to know what happened. As it turned out the DVR decided not to record Argentina and I got home just in time for the last 20 minutes of regulation for USA/Belgium. Which were terrible.
But my God that was an entertaining extra time. The US had no business winning but came awfully close to forcing penalties. I think you’d have to give Howard the advantage had it happened.
Not that we were going to beat Argentina anyway. This team isn’t ready for prime time.
One thing I like about the American team is if a player goes down and stays down he is probably actual in pain or hurt.
You should seek some treatment for that American Exceptionalism Syndrome you got there…
ARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH. 90 minutes of no forwards in the net. Every time they drove up the side into the the corner they chipped it to a field of 2 US players and a sea of Belgian players. They finally scored when they moved players up. It’s as if their entire strategy was to tie and hope to win on goal shots.
My statement was first pointed out to me by some Brit on the BBC. Some teams do embellish more than others.
The Belgians played as cleanly as the Americans did today. Amara_, above, pointed that out, and I agree.
It was a wonderful game.
Agreed.