So Close… But Not Quite

On a day when everyone was talking about how the U.S. would perform against the Portuguese, fans were confident that the U.S. could beat Portugal and knock Portugal out of the World Cup, while also advancing to the round of 16. Those fans were silenced in the opening minutes of the match, with Geoff Cameron making a sliced clearance that fell to Nani, who blasted it home. After that, it was U.S. all the way. They created opportunity after opportunity, with the main threat coming from Fabian Johnson down the right hand side. However, they were frustrated that they were doing everything but not getting the ball in the back of the net. It took a moment of magic from Jermaine Jones to equalize. He bended the ball into the far corner from about 30 yards out. It was a peach of a goal, with Beto thinking it was off target. U.S. didn’t back down then, with the U.S. searching for a winner. They brought DeAndre Yedlin on, who played right wing as oppose to right back. Then the moment happened. The 20 year old Yedlin burst into the box and cut the ball back. It was deflected to Bradley, who scuffed his effort towards Zusi, who squared it to Dempsey who had an empty net to chest the ball into. Ronaldo missed a goal from a break away just moments earlier, and it happened to be a costly mistake. All was going well for the U.S. for the next 20 minutes or so. However, you can never back off Cristiano Ronaldo, who in the last 30 seconds, produced a pearl of a cross for Varela to head home. U.S. fans’ hearts were broken, and you could almost feel the whole country go silent. It was saddening to see the U.S. give away the win in the last kick of the football, but they still have a good chance to advance against Germany. With a former German coach and 5 players of German origins in the U.S. team, it promises to be a mouthwatering contest.