USA falls to Germany in group finale, advances to Round of 16 despite loss
The United States men's national team advanced to the knockout round of the World Cup despite losing 1-0 to Germany in Recife on Thursday.
Thomas Muller got the lone goal of the match in the 55th minute to lead the Germans, but in an echo of the 2002 World Cup, Portugal beat Ghana 2-1 in the other group match, allowing the Americans to advance on goal difference. In 2002 Portugal did the Americans a similar favor, losing to the Korea Republic in Incheon late after the Americans collapsed in Daejeon to Poland.
The Germans await Algeria from Group H in the next round, while the Americans will face Belgium in the Round of 16 next week.
"It’s huge. Honestly we wanted at least a tie out of the game, but maybe we had a bit too much respect for them at the start," Jurgen Klinsmann admitted after the match. "We should have created more chances, and we have to improve on that. But we had tremendous energy and effort, and it’s huge for us. No one expected us to get out of the group, they said we had no chance, but we took that chance and we move on and now we want to prove a point."
Muller’s goal came ten minutes into the half off the type of set-piece that the Americans have struggled to defend. Michael Bradley fouled Philipp Lahm, and Toni Kroos sent in a searching ball that Brad Davis was forced to head out. Off the ensuing corner kick, Mesut Ozil pinged the ball in neatly to Benedikt Howedes for a rocket of a shot that Howard got behind to parry out beyond the area. But Muller was lurking and he swept onto it to bury the ball to the far post.
The game had the feel of a shipwreck. Streets in Recife were flooded before the match, with as much as two feet of water closing avenues and byways to the Pernambuco. At kickoff, the field was noticeably slower as the rain pounded down and the empty seats on view were simply because people couldn’t get there. For many American fans, that might have been a blessing. The United States were rarely able to get anything going against this mighty German side, and always looked like they were going to need help from the other teams in the group to advance.
And the Americans, as has been their habit, started as slowly as the ball on this damp field. Germany almost made them pay for that from the start. Passing the ball about with a serenity derived from talent, the Germans immediately began to exploit an overload at the back post with Jerome Boateng as the target. Ozil and Lukas Podolski started to ping the ball around with Muller often the focal point for the final ball, and Tim Howard was very busy inside the first ten minutes.
Howard stopped a dangerous cross intended for Muller in the eighth minute; then somehow kept Howedes off the board two minutes later. Omar Gonzalez had a few nervy moments, including a bad whiff on a cross that came perilously close to becoming an own goal.
But as the half wore on the USA settled and despite the Germans having the lion’s share of possession, they were increasingly kept at bay. Gonzalez made up for his early sins with a fine bit of clean-up when Lahm sent in a teasing ball to Boateng, and he was often called on to get in the hulking Bastian Schweinsteiger’s way.
The USA didn’t show much in the way of an attack until Graham Zusi managed to roam forward, and on the most incisive move of the half for the USA, sent a stinging shot just over the bar. Davis moved over the right side to give DaMarcus Beasley additional cover, and Boateng’s threat gradually receded. Jermaine Jones also started making some surging runs forward, providing some relief even if there really was no final product. Clint Dempsey did as well as he could, but the lack of a big man up top -- Jozy Altidore remains injured -- proved costly as there was no outlet to settle the ball and keep a back line honest.
Ozil continued to harass, forcing Howard into another fine save in the 35th minute off some intricate buildup play, but as the teams went into the break, sodden and grass-covered, you did get the sense that the game was inching towards a stalemate.
But at the half, when Joachim Low inserted Miroslav Klose -- the old head and Germany’s all-time leading Cup scorer -- it was clear there was no intention of playing for the draw. Klose started to make runs into the area and there was a consistent threat from wide areas that the Americans struggled to deal with. Klose was in alone on the 51st minute and if he had seen slightly better service, the Germans would have seized the lead then and there. Five minutes later, they had it for good, and from there, the Americans were always clinging on.
The Americans, reeling, tried to shore matters up by yanking the ineffective Davis, replacing him with the even less effective Alejandro Bedoya. Bedoya looked lost, making his biggest impact when he ran right into Jones in the 75th minute, taking both men off the field for a few minutes after a clash of heads. Bedoya did have a stoppage-time chance, but Lahm was back to clean it up. Dempsey would then head over the bar off the corner.
The Americans will not be happy with this result, but the fact is the gulf in class here was enormous. Klinsmann’s decision to bring Julian Green -- still yet to star -- ahead of some other forwards will be freshly scrutinized, and there is a sense that this United States side is more than a little threadbare. "We still can do better, we got through -- but we have to do better and we will do better," a relieved Klinsmann said after the loss.
How they recover from this is an open question. But for right now, the Americans are alive -- and given that this was the Group of Death, that’s more than many expected last December.
