When Jürgen Klinsmann’s men were paired with the likes of Germany, Portugal and Ghana no one gave them a chance and the The Stars and Stripes were expected to crash out of the tournament in the first round only. Furthermore Landon Donovan’s exclusion from the squad to travel to Brazil left a lot of USA fans heartbroken who were getting increasingly pessimistic of their team's chances in the illustrious competition.
What was to follow did not just take the world of football by surprise but was also a warning to other nations to not take the USMNT lightly.
USA kicked off their campaign with an impressive 2-1 win over Ghana. Captain Clint Dempsey led from the front scoring the initial goal and John Anthony Brooks’ winner in the 86th minute gave USA all three points.
USA continued to impress and in their next match Team USA gave Portugal a run for their money. USA were in full control of the match and were heading for their second successive win until Silvestre Varela equalized for Portugal in the dying minutes.
Confidence remained sky high in the USMNT camp as they prepared for their biggest challenge going against World Cup favorites Germany. Despite of the odds being heavily against them Jürgen Klinsmann’s men put a fine showing. The defence remained resilient for most part of the game but neither Tim Howard nor his cohorts could do anything to stop Thomas Müller’s strike which eventually proved to be the winner.
Their remarkable run in the group stages meant that USA secured qualification to the next round where they were to face a Belgian side which won all its matches in the group stages. As expected the Red Devils proved to be very potent opponents and USA players had a very hard time containing them.
Was it not for some extraordinary goalkeeping from Tim Howard the tie would have been settled much earlier. The Everton shot stopper produced a record 15 saves in the match more than any keeper has ever managed in a World Cup game. However despite their resilience USA were unable to get the better of Belgium after conceding twice in extra time and even though Julian Green registered a goal later in the match, USA were unable to stage a comeback and eventually bowed out of the competition but with their heads held high.
USA have now managed to reach the Round of 16 for a second time in a row in the World Cup which is definitely a sign of progress. Despite their heroics not everyone was impressed with Jürgen Klinsmann and his men especially axed star Landon Donovan who criticized the national team coach’s tactics and stated that the side was “not set up to succeed”.
“I think we’re all disappointed in what happened. I think the most disappointing thing is we didn’t seem like we gave it a real effort, from a tactical standpoint. I thought the guys did everything they could, they did everything that was asked of them, but I don’t think we were set up to succeed, and that was tough to watch,” Donovan said.
“It’s a results-oriented business and so, results-wise, you can hold your head high. If you really look at the performances, there were some good performances by guys, some not-so-good performances by guys. [But] as a whole, I think tactically, the team was not set up to succeed."
“They were set up in a way that was opposite from what they’ve been the past couple years, which is opening up, passing, attacking – trying to do that. And the team’s been successful that way. Why they decided to switch that in the World Cup, none of us will know. From a playing standpoint, I think the guys will probably be disappointed in the way things went.”
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