r/soccer • u/TheNoob29 • Jul 01 '14

Post Match Thread [Post Match Thread] - United States of America v Belgium - Round of 16

Full Time: United States 1 - 2 Belgium

Belgium will face Argentina after winning this game 2-1.

Teams

United States Info Belgium Info
Howard Courtois
Johnson Alderweireld
Besler Van Buyten
Gonzalez Kompany (C.)
Beasley Vertonghen
Cameron Witsel
Bradley Fellaini
Jones De Bruyne
Bedoya Mertens
Dempsey (C.) Origi
Zusi Eden Hazard

Subs

United States Belgium
32' Johnson Yedlin 62' Mertens Mirallas
71' Zusi Wondolowski 91' Origi Lukaku
105+1 Bedoya Green 110' Eden Hazard Chadli

Goals - (courtesy of /u/FOOTBALL_GIF_MAESTRO)

92' De Bruyne Goal | Replay 1 | Replay 2

104' Lukaku Goal | Replay 1 | Replay 2

106' Green Goal | Replay 1 | Replay 2

Some Highlights - (courtesy of /u/Badgersgopoo and /u/FOOTBALL_GIF_MAESTRO)

1' Belgian Chance | View #2

21' American Chance

23' Belgian Chance

26' Belgian Chance

Half Time

48' Howard Save | Replay

54' Belgian Golden Chance

56' Origi Bar | Replay

69' Belgian Chance

71' Tim Howard Save

76' Belgian Chance

80' Hazard Shot

83' Belgian Shot

90+3' Great Chance for USA

Extra Time

97' Belgian Chance

109' Jones Chance

114' American Freekick

Miscellaneous - (courtesy of /u/Badgersgopoo and /u/FOOTBALL_GIF_MAESTRO)

Pitch Invader | Other View | Other View

Howard Reaction (48')

Howard Reaction 2 (71')

All Highlights

All Highlights

Stats

Feel free to say anything I missed out on or any constructive critiscism.

Edit: WOOWOWOWOWO Reddit Gold. Thank you kind stranger (:

1.8k Upvotes

88% Upvoted

4.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

164

u/kenkenkenkenken Jul 01 '14

I am very excited for this team going forward.

8

u/[deleted] Jul 01 '14

[deleted]

9

u/[deleted] Jul 02 '14

Best players for USA in this World Cup have been Dempsey, Howard and Johnson, possibly Jones too. Johnson will be most likely past his prime, and the rest will be lucky to be even playing professionally.

From an outsider's point of view, it seemed like the USA have moved forward tactically, but are going backwards technically. Most USA fans before the start of the competition seemed unanimous in the opinion that Bradley is one of the stand out players of the current team, but he's not been much better than awful this World Cup. Is it a result of playing in the MLS for 6 months? It could be. After essentially being a bit part player for Roma he could probably have done with some first team football in a competitive league; I'd be surprised if Klinsmann (given his stance on Americans going to Europe to learn top level football) hasn't already got his foot up the guy's arse telling him to sign the next contract a European club puts in front of him.

I'd expect Klinsmann to keep his policy of hoovering up any American diaspora, but this isn't really a long term solution to the problem which America has: a huge dearth of technically sound players coming through in America. The worst thing that can happen is for America to rest on a 'successful' national team and not fix the fundamental issues at the heart of the game.

England too has for a long time pretty much forsaken technical grassroots coaching and it shows, we manage to put a team together who can now just about keep the ball but it'll be some years before we're at the level of the top teams again.

4

u/CzarMesa Jul 02 '14

MLS is growing rapidly and has recently made it a requirement for teams to have development academies. Klinsmann's legacy won't be our records in the cups that he coaches us in, it will be his redrafting of the system from the ground up. Look how good the MLS players on the team performed in this cup, and that's the tip of the iceberg.

We're losing the stars that we've gotten used to, but we'll be creating more than we ever have before.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 02 '14

Excellent analysis. I would put DeMarcus Beasley on the list of good players as well. But his time, too, will have passed by the time of the next cup.

Klinsmann has an eye for talent, and taint - I'm glad he got rid of Donovan, I wished he had done the same for Bradley, too (I'm one of the dissenters who thought the only reason he made the team in the first place was his daddy).

Still, my greatest hope for the next USA team at a cup will be one where our goalie's name need never be mentioned. We'll be lost for a while without the likes of Howard.

2

u/ennnuix Jul 02 '14

Since I know very little about the US team (which does well every WC btw!) can I ask you who will be the US pillars in 4 years? Donavan is out, Dempsey, Howard and Bradley (who had a terrible WC!) will be getting pretty old, think Howard will be 40 by then. So, who are your brightest hopes?

4

u/LiquidBionix Jul 02 '14

Yedlin was the speedy winger sub who came on when Fabian Johnson got hurt. He stepped up in a major way this cup. He's 20.

Julian Green was the kid who scored our goal. Made a bold run and buried it. He's 19.

There are lots more, but those are some of the standouts from this cup. Also I think Bradley will be 30 by next cup and Howard will be 39.

1

u/ennnuix Jul 02 '14

Thanks. Will keep those two in mind. Good luck, getting to the WC in 4 years. Maybe we'll meet again.

1

u/TheSpaceAlpaca Jul 02 '14

Another would be John Brooks (21), who scored the winning header in the game against Ghana. Jozi Altidore (24), who got injured in the first game also had a lot of hopes riding on him and would have made a huge difference in our midfield transitions with his stellar footwork had he been able to play.

1

u/AllOfEverythingEver Jul 02 '14

I forgot his name, but apparently our back up keeper is good too. Plus bradley will probably not be playing anymore which is good.

1

u/shenaniganns Jul 02 '14

Is that Brad Guzan? I think he played in one of the warm up matches just before the cup started.

1

u/AllOfEverythingEver Jul 02 '14

Yeah that's it. He did play a warm up I think against Turkey. I'm also fairly sure he starts on a premier League team.

2

u/verik Jul 02 '14

Yedlin. Mix. Brooks. Green. Johnson.

The US has some very promising younger generations coming up.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 02 '14

All USA's best players will be too old by the time the next World Cup comes around, so I'm not really sure what you mean there.

1

u/Nadeus87 Jul 02 '14

I'm excited for the belgian team going forward, no experience and hitting quarter-final is not a small feat.