United States’ Landon Donovan celebrates after scoring a goal against Mexico during the second half of a World Cup qualifying soccer match in Columbus, Ohio. (AP/Jay Laprete)
The “group of death” they called it.
Germany, Portugal, Ghana and the United States. If you had to take a guess which two teams would not make it out of this group, the United States probably would have been one of them. Even former USA soccer standout and current ESPN soccer analyst, Alexi Lalas said the USA had no chance.
Even USA head coach Jurgen Klinsmann said his team had no shot to advance out of the “group of death”.
Klinsmann was brutally scrutinized and questioned for leaving off USA soccer icon Landon Donovan of the 23-man roster for the World Cup. Leaving Donovan off the roster brought questions as to how far this USA team could advance. It has proved to be the right decision. By leaving Donovan off the roster, the younger players that Klinsmann brought in, including Aron Johannsson, Matt Besler, John Brooks and many more, have been able to contribute at a high level for the USA, and have built a foundation for USA soccer for years to come.
If the USA failed to advance to the round of 16, you can be sure that Klinsmann leaving off Donovan would’ve been the main question.
Klinsmann made sure who his leaders were and made sure that the younger players looked up to and listened to Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley and DaMarcus Beasley. You see these players mentoring the younger members of the team, and you see them at the post-game press conferences. Klinsmann made sure that there were no superstars on this teams and USA soccer was all about unity instead of stardom. Even if in the eyes of USA soccer fans Dempsey is the star for his game against Ghana or if goalkeeper Howard is the star because of his performance in the net, Klinsmann sees no stars on his team, and that’s just the way he likes it.
Klinsmann knew all eyes would be on him after not having Donovan on the roster, but he saw something in the younger players he recruited to play for the USA that no one else did.
There is more attention on the head coach than on any of the players on the USA rosters. Something tells me that it’s just what Klinsmann wants.
The USA advanced to the round of 16 by defeating Ghana (thanks to the late goal by Brooks), tying with Portugal, and losing 1-0 to Germany. Even with the loss to Germany, USA earned second place in the group and advanced to the knockout stage for the second year in a row.
The United States will face Belgium Tuesday for the right to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2002.
Belgium provides no easy task for the Yanks. Belgium has many players that play for some of the top clubs throughout Europe, including clubs like Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Atletico Madrid, Everton and Wolfsburg.
Belgium comes into the match with a perfect 3-0 record in group play, defeating Algeria, Russia and South Korea, but the matches have been close with all three resulting in one goal wins for Belgium.
The last time the United States faced Belgium, Belgium prevailed 4-2 in May 2013.
The USA and Belgium both have injury concerns heading into this match. Belgium captain Vincent Kompany is listed as doubtful for the match Tuesday with a groin injury.
USA forward, Jozy Altidore, has been medically cleared to play Tuesday after he suffered a hamstring injury in the opener against Ghana on June 16. How fresh will he be after sitting out for close to two games remains to be seen, but his return will give the Yanks a huge lift on the attack.
The U.S. defended well against Germany in a 1-0 loss, and they’ll need to do the same thing against the premier players of Belgium. Omar Gonzales and Besler of the U.S. defense will have to keep up their stout play, like they did against Germany in order to stop Belgium.
When it comes to scoring goals, the United States will look for Dempsey to make an impact and hopefully Jermaine Jones can work his goal scoring magic like he did against Portugal.
Of course if I had to make a prediction, I will take the United States just because of pride for my country.
With the recent trend of knockout matches being decided on penalty kicks, my prediction is that not only will the USA win Tuesday, but the match will be decided on the most exciting and heart-pounding endings in sports: penalty kicks.
