It would have been a great story if Tim Howard’s performance would have been enough to keep the United States in the World Cup. But eventually he was beaten, and so was his team, with Belgium moving on to the quarterfinals, and only memes and highlights left to celebrate an incredible goalkeeping display.
While Guillermo Ochoa, Keylor Navas and Julio Cesar got the accolades so far in this tournament, Howard broke the record for saves in a World Cup match since that stat became a thing, making 16 saves as the Belgians found themselves again and again alone against him in the box.
He was beaten twice: Kevin de Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku. They both came in extra time. You can only do so much on your own while your teammates fail to score from good opportunities (looking at you Wondolowski) and not concede eventually.
The USA did get its chances to come back. They even scored a goal that made for a very tense finish. However, when it was all said and done, a heroic performance from Howard between the posts wasn’t enough. You need the other 10 players to do something special as well.
