Just sickening that the us is still in this game. Belgium could find itself in Mexicos fate, doesnt matter how well you play if you dont finish off your opponent they can bite ya. Belgiums got nobody to blame but themselves for not being off the pitch and celebrating right now. 20 shots on net to 4.
omg USA should have won?????? what game were you watching. Outside a 5 minute span in the 2nd extra time half they were thoroughly outclassed and yes Howards a beast if not we'd have seen a scoreline thatd never have let the americans have a shot at extra time and the game ends in regulation. Altidore was a loss but not changing this outcome. Right team advanced. I dont think the americans are as far behind as they used to be but this was a heroic tending performance from being a complete thrashing. Scoreline was very flattering to the americans.
Its a fine line, there couldve been a bit more offensive push but Belgium was creating nearly at will off counters and the wings were a threat on nearly every touch, if the Americans left themselves exposed any more in an effort to push forward harder theyd have surely been burnt. The americans at this point and time in their team development doesnt have the horses to play and press consistently but as their players develop I think we'll see more emphasis towards that style, for this team and where its at Klinsmanns gameplan was pretty spot on. Got them within a hair of a win they had no business being near. That injury sub was probably the best thing for the americans today, kid turned out to be a terror and looks to be a nice future piece of that american squad, and he would likely not have seen the pitch if the injury hadnt occurred.
I actually thought it was great coaching. He knew we weren't better overall (and from what I saw by a wide margin). So he just wanted to sit back, play defense and take a few shots if we get them to stay in the game. It worked for most of the game until extra time. He thought our goalie could keep us in it and he did. Had he opened it up and stretched the field, took more chances Belguim might have scored a half dozen if they had twice or 3 times the chances/break away type shots.
Our offense only looked good because Belgium sent most of their players back to defend and we had no choice to attack.
We are getting much better but still aren't on par with the teams like Belgium
