Tim!

That was some game.  Although Belgium did win the World Cup match with the United States, as I expected, the American team put up a pretty good effort, meaning that the Belgians weren't going to advance to the quarterfinals without a fight.  In fact, they didn't score a goal until extra time, and even after they scored another, the U.S. scored a goal and came very close to tying and sending the game into penalty kicks.  And the man who kept it going was Tim Howard, the American goalkeeper who was thrown everything the Belgians had in their tank, yet he made sixteen saves, an all-time World Cup record.  Eighteen would have been better. ;-) But hey, he isn't Superman.

But he is, without question, the man of the match. 

 

The United States lasted longer then people thought they would, having advanced to the round of sixteen and so being set to finish in the upper echelon.  (The team's final position in this Cup tournament hasn't been determined yet.)   And they got as far as they did with lot of heart and hard work.  If they keep improving their skills at the rate they have been, they'll be in a good position be a Cup favorite in 2022 or even 2018.

At 35, Tim Howard isn't likely to be on a future team with Cup potential. I hope the team has someone at least as good as he is.