PRETORIA, South Africa - Over and over, everything seemed to go against them. A referee took away a win last week, and a linesman disallowed another goal yesterday.
Now there was just 3 minutes left in their World Cup, just that much remaining until all the doubts about American soccer would rise again.
But then, in one of the most stunning turnarounds in World Cup history, Landon Donovan scored on a lightning fast counterattack 45 seconds into 4 minutes of injury time. And, with the most amazing late-game moment in American soccer, the United States beat Algeria, 1-0, and reached the World Cup’s second round.
“This team embodies what the American spirit is about,” Donovan said. “We had a goal disallowed the other night, we had another good goal disallowed tonight, but we just keep going. And I think that’s what people admire so much about Americans. And I’m damn proud.”
“That’s probably going to capture more people’s attention than if we won the game 3-0 and it was easy,” said U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard. “That emotion, that passion is what American sports fans thrive on.”
The United States won its first World Cup match in eight years and finished atop its first-round group for the first time since the original World Cup in 1930. With a quick turnaround, the Americans play Ghana on Saturday night in Rustenburg for a spot in the quarterfinals. Four years ago in Germany, Ghana won the final match of the opening round against the Americans to knock them out of the tournament.
“The moment kind of slowed down for me. It was as much a reaction as anything,’ Donovan said. “I kind of hesitated. I didn’t know if he was going to play it across the goal or try to cut it back to me. Once he played it in front of the goal, I didn’t sprint, but I kept my run going and once it popped off then goalie, then I picked up a little to get there.”
source: http://article.wn.com
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