Portugal took advantage of a mistake by the USA early on when Geoff Cameron flubbed a clearing attempt and it fell straight to Nani. The Manchester United forward had no trouble at all beating Tim Howard, and the excitement Americans had before kickoff was instantly swept away.
The thrill would take a while to return, but it eventually did. In the 64th minute, Jermaine Jones collected a carom off a USA corner and blasted home an absolute stunner low at the far post. Portuguese keeper Beto was frozen. There was nothing he could do to stop the fireball unleashed from Jones's right leg.
The energy of the Americans would only grow 17 minutes later when Clint Dempsey was barely onside to chest in a feed from Graham Zusi. America exploded. Twitter was alive with joy. The stadium in Manaus was jumping. Bars across the nation were nothing but incomprehensible screams. I was preparing my victory tweet.
All this until the final minute of stoppage time.
Christiano Ronaldo was mostly absent all game long. He waited until the very end to make a difference. After a Michael Bradley turnover, the ball came to Ronaldo and he lofted a perfect cross that found Varela sneaking past the USA defense for an open header. Tim Howard, who was outstanding all match long, had no chance at a save. It was the latest regulation goal in World Cup history. The hearts of the USA were crushed. Victory had been ripped away, violently. It made a draw feel like a loss. It made the future feel hopeless.
But things are hardly hopeless. Despite the crushing ending to last night's action, there is still a good chance for the USA to advance. They simply need to not get crushed by Germany. A draw or USA win makes it simple. One point and the USA is in. It is in defeat that things get complicated. From NBC Sports ProSoccerTalk USA still advance with a loss if:
1. Ghana and Portugal draw; orFor the more graphically oriented of us, Deadspin has a wonderful graphic illustrating the advancement of the USA should they lose and Ghana win.
2. Ghana beats Portugal (a) by only one goal, and (b) the U.S. loses by only one goal, and (c) Ghana doesn’t outscore the U.S. by two or more goals on the day; or
3. Portugal beats Ghana and fails to make up the five-goal gap in difference (see more, below).
None of that is too much to ask. Of course, we all would rather the USA and Germany sign The Secret Treaty of Recife and agree to kick the ball around the yard in boring fashion and both move on to the next round. Like that would happen.
In reality, as painful as last night's result was, things are far from bleak for the US Men's National Team. In fact, things still look pretty good.
Michael Bradley will take the goat label for the end result, and rightly so. He was severely tired by the end of the match. He look gassed and lazy in stoppage time, directly leading to the game tying turnover. He also missed a gift of a chance early in the second half when the ball found him with a wide open look at goal and he fired it right into a Portuguese defender. For someone who had been touted as America's best player, he has been pretty pedestrian in the World Cup, so far.
Elsewhere, in Group H, we saw Belgium squeak out a sloppy win over Russia to secure a place in the round of 16. Substitute Divok Origi, who came on for a lazy Romelu Lukaku in the 57th minute, nailed an 88th minute equalizer to save Belgium's fortune with a 1-0 win. In Algeria's first World Cup win since 1982, they scored three times in 12 minutes to bury South Korea by a 4-2 score. The victory puts them in a good place to advance past the group stage for the first time ever.
Today, we start the final round of group play. This is where things get really exciting, as if they haven't been already. We begin with the Group B final round, where the Netherlands and Chile are both guaranteed to advance. The two teams face each other and the winner takes the top spot. In the case of a draw, the Dutch win the group on goal difference thanks to their drubbing of Spain in the opener. Spain and Australia are both eliminated, and are thus facing each other in a meaningless game. Those matches kick off at noon. I am predicting a 2-1 Dutch win and, I guess, Spain gets a consolation 3 points over Australia by winning 2-1.
At 4pm, Group A kicks off. Brazil plays already eliminated Cameroon only needing a point to secure a spot in the round of 16. Mexico takes on Croatia in a winner advances match. In the event of a draw, Mexico advances since they come in with 4 points to Croatia's 3. A draw for Brazil and a non-draw in Mexico-Croatia sees the winner of that one on top of the group. I call for Brazil to handle Cameroon by a convincing 3-0 score while Mexico sees off Croatia into the round of 16 by winning 2-1.
Recover from last night's disappointment and enjoy today. Thursday will be here soon enough, America.
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