AMERICAN DREAM LIVES ON
U.S. survives Group of Death even after losing to Germany
GERMANY 1 USA 0
RECIFE, Brazil — The loudest cheer of the day, thundering over the sodden field and above a clump of embracing players, arrived when the news was delivered on two corner scoreboards by way of Brasilia. Mutinous Ghana had yielded no further goals to Portugal, so both those sides had been eliminated from the World Cup. They had become the two tournament fatalities in the Group of Death.
That left two teams standing — though one standing considerably taller. Germany completely dominated this happy-ending match on Thursday, beat the Americans, 1-0, and at times appeared to belong on an entirely different pitch. Somehow, the soccer party lives in America, even if this particular game proved more survival test than revelry. The one-goal loss earned the U.S. a second chance in the second round. It also may have demonstrated that there is little chance for ultimate triumph quite yet, but that’s a doomsday thought for another day. “Last game’s draw against Portugal felt like a loss,” Omar Gonzalez declared. “This game’s loss felt like a win.”
Thomas Muller, a scoring machine, gave the Germans the victory in the 55th minute with a rocket inside the far post from the upper left of the box. A diving Tim Howard had no chance. It was Muller’s fourth goal of the tournament, coming right after a brilliant save from Howard off a header from Per Mertesacker.
For some time after that, the Americans played even deeper and more cautiously, knowing their chances of advancement might rely on the score of this defeat. They did. The U.S. finished with a 1-1-1 mark for four points, same as Portugal, but with a three-goal edge in differential. The Portuguese paid the ultimate price for their 4-0 defeat to Germany in the opener.
“The players, we didn’t want to know that other score,” Jermaine Jones said.
With 10 minutes left, Howard told his defenders the score anyway, didn’t want them to push too high. As if to prove they are no slouches, the Americans suddenly and unexpectedly pressed for the equalizer in added time. Alejandro Bedoya’s shot was blocked, and Clint Dempsey’s header sailed over the crossbar. The final whistle blew, eventually. Jurgen Klinsmann worked his way to the middle of the field, hugging and congratulating the German players and staff he knows so well.
“Today was a difficult kind of game,” Dempsey said. “No matter how much you want to push, you know a draw gets you there.”
The U.S. will play a secondround match in Salvador on Tuesday against Belgium. Dempsey warned that the Americans will have to stay compact on defense in that match, while holding the ball more. They need to play more as they did against Portugal, less as they did against Germany.
Advancing from the Group of Death was no easy task, in any case. The U.S. has now made it to the second round of two straight World Cups. Portugal may still put forward conspiracy theories, based on Klinsmann’s close relationship with Germany manager Joachim Low. It will be hard to convince Americans back home, however, that their team was not under very real pressure for almost the entire 90 minutes.
On sodden sod, Howard and the overmatched U.S. team barely managed to keep the Germans off the score sheet in the first half despite possessing the ball only 40% of the time. Howard aggressively cut off a couple of low crosses early on that were extremely dangerous. The first few minutes, in particular, were a nervous time.
“It was not so easy to handle it mentally. We had too much respect for them the first 20, 25 minutes,” Klinsmann said. “Then we settled in. Wish we would have created more chances, take it to Germany here or there, but overall this was a fantastic achievement. I screamed as much as I could to push our defense up more, but it’s easier said than done.”
In the 35th minute, the U.S. goalkeeper made his best save, crouching to stop a grass-cutter by Mesut Ozil. As if to prove Germany’s ambitious intent, Low brought in veteran striker Miroslav Klose at the start of the second half.
The field was obviously wet, but not unplayable. And by halftime, Portugal’s one-goal lead in the other match in Group G very much favored the Americans.
Klinsmann made two changes in his lineup to start the match — one expected, one surprising. He benched center back Geoff Cameron, who had a terrible match against Portugal, for Omar Gonzalez. He also brought in Brad Davis for Bedoya at left attacking midfield. Bedoya came on as a sub, however.
In the 73rd minute, Jones and Bedoya crashed in a frightening collision that left Jones lying at first motionless on the field. Both players returned, however.
“It’s not good,” Jones said. “I think my nose is broken.”
He joins Dempsey in that category. The Americans know all their broken noses will be on the field against Belgium. Maybe, just maybe, they’ll get back Jozy Altidore, too. They were outclassed on Thursday, yet lived to play another day, right into July.