U.S. National Team Falls To Germany But Advances To Round Of 16

Germany has defeated the U.S. National Team by the final score of 1-0, but more importantly the U.S. still advances thanks to a 2-1 Portugal victory over Ghana.

It was a game dominated by Germany, especially in the second half, but the U.S. was able to hang on after conceding a goal 10 minutes into the second half.

There were a couple of changes to the starting lineup, with Brad Davis coming in at the left midfield position in place of Alejandro Bedoya while Omar Gonzalez took Jeff Cameron’s spot at center back. Cameron was on of the guilty parties in the waning moments of the Portugal game when the U.S. allowed the game-tying goal.

The game got started with Germany maintaining a majority of the possession in the first 10 minutes of the game. At times it looked as though the U.S. National Team would never get a touch, but eventually the American’s settled in.

About twenty minutes in there was a tactical change that saw Graham Zusi and Brad Davis swap midfield positions (left and right) because Boateng of Germany, their right fullback, was having his way down the left side of the U.S.

In the 35′ Germany had a decent shot on net that went through the legs of Besler, but Tim Howard was able to make the save and then the defense cleared the ball out of the box.

Also, for those of us who were watching, the Portuguese were leading Ghana 1-0 at the half on an own goal.

The one change to start the half was the entrance of Miroslav Klose, who is tied for the most goals (15) in World Cup history, in favor of Lukas Podolski.

In the 55′ minute Germany finally scored the first goal of the game on a Tomas Mueller shot beyond the outsretched hands of Howard. He did a great job of making the initial save on header from a corner kick, but the rebound chance was what did the U.S. National Team in.

A few minutes later Alejandro Bedoya came in for Brad Davis, just a couple of minutes before the hour mark of the game. It was no doubt a defensive change. Later still  DeAndre Yedlin comes in for Graham Zusi and Yedlin, just as he did on the Ghana game, made a difference on that right side.

The U.S. National Team did finally threaten in stoppage time, where there were four minutes, but a 60-yard defensive run and shot-blocking slide tackle by Philipp Lahm kept the Americans off the scoresheet. Shortly thereafter we would hear the final whistle, along with the news that Porgutal, with a goal in the 80′ from Cristiano Ronaldo, had defeated Ghana allowing the U.S. National Team to advance to the next round.

In that next round it is looking pretty likely that they will have to play Belgium, but we won’t know for certain until the final two games are played later today. If they do play Belgium though, you can be sure the U.S. squad will be looking for some revenge after a 4-2 defeat during a friendly.