Plenty To Cheer About For Team USA In Route To A Tie Against Portugal

Posted By:

Anthony Sanchez

The match against Portugal did not start how team USA wanted they were stunned early on around the fifth minute when Geoff Cameron completely missed a clearance attempt which in turn left Portugal's Nani wide open in the far post for a shot past Tim Howard to take a very early lead of one to zero. Team USA looked a little nervous early on you can say they came out a bit tight, but as the half went on team USA seemed to settle down and loosen up. The tide began to turn when Clint Dempsey just missed on a free kick that went over the cross bar, Michael Bradley had a couple of opportunities where he came close to scoring twice and just seemed to lift the spirits of the American fan base that was present in Brazil and seemed to spark some life into the team heading into the half all be it down one to zero.

The first ten minutes of the second half seemed like a mirror image of the first Portugal had taken control, was applying constant pressure and had team USA's defense on its heels. The game seemed to slow down in the second half as the weather started to affect the players, but one player who could not blame the weather for not looking like himself was Christiano Ronaldo who's knee injury was affecting him more then he lead on.

Team USA kept clawing, scratching and fighting until they finally broke through in the sixty-fourth minute of the match Jermaine Jones with a laser past Portugal's goalie to even things up at one a piece. Portugal did not let up either, but USA's defense was tough and did a good job challenging passes and shots, the constant was the the struggle an clear frustration on the face of Christiano Ronaldo and at no other time was the frustration more apparent then when Ronaldo got loose and had an opportunity to score past Tim Howard instead his shot did not have the typical crisp touch and in turn went off target. Team USA in never give up fashion took the lead in the eighty-first minute off a goal by Clint Dempsey, who was set up beautifully by Graham Zusi making it two to one at that point.

In the end it looked like team USA was well on their way to move on from group play, but not so fast with seconds left in the match Christiano Ronaldo found an extra gear getting free on the right and sent a perfect cross to Silvestre Valera who then fired a header past Tim Howard to tie the game at two a piece. That was the shot that left all Americans stunned & with shear disbelief of how close we came to advancing, all is not lost as long as team USA can win or tie versus Germany they will move on to the next round. It can be very easy to second guess what happened in the end, was it great play from a great player, did the defense of team USA wear out, did USA get lazy, but in all honesty team USA should feel good about the position that it is in considering we have the chance to move on which no one gave this team a chance to do so.

 I say believe in USA and a big congratulations is in order for the job that coach Jurgen Klinsmann  has done especially not having one of their best players in Jozy Altidore who was scratched for this game due to injury. Stay Tuned for team USA's next game game versus Germany on June 26th, 2014 (Thursday), as we have the opportunity to advance to the round of sixteen.

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