Tim Howard’s record 16 saves can’t save USMNT against Belgium

Tim Howard turned in a World Cup-record 16 saves, but Belgium still wore down the USMNT and won 2-1 in extra time on July 1, 2014, at Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador, Brazil, before 51,227 fans. The result sent Belgium into the quarterfinals and left the Americans with one of the most painful exits in program history, a match defined as much by Howard’s resistance as by the chances the U.S. could not finish.

The tactical break began before kickoff. Jurgen Klinsmann altered the starting XI and shifted into a new 4-3-3 without Jozy Altidore, who had suffered a grade two hamstring tear against Ghana and was not fit to start against Belgium. Geoff Cameron took Altidore’s place, and the change left the U.S. without its most physical attacking outlet as Belgium pressed forward and controlled long stretches of the match. The Americans had reached the round of 16 for the second straight World Cup, but the lineup change underlined how much the attack had already been thinned by injury.

Belgium’s chances came in waves, and Howard answered almost every one of them. ESPN’s game analysis described Belgium’s attacks as relentless, and MLSsoccer.com noted that Howard single-handedly kept the United States in the match with his record-setting performance in his 104th cap. The decisive stretch arrived in overtime, when Kevin De Bruyne scored in the 93rd minute, Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead in the 105th, and Julian Green cut the deficit in the 107th. By then, the U.S. had spent too long surviving instead of threatening.

The match exposed a recurring U.S. formula on the biggest stage: enough organization and effort to stay alive, but too little attacking depth when the pressure rose. Howard’s performance delayed the outcome, but it could not change the fact that Belgium generated the better chances, the better shot volume, and the more dangerous runners once the game opened up in extra time.