If this was the last World Cup game of Tim Howard’s career, the greatest soccer player in United States history went out with the greatest game of his life — and perhaps the best goalkeeping performance ever at the World Cup.
It’s a shame Howard got no help from his teammates, who hung him out to dry in a crushing 2-1 extra time loss to Belgium. The U.S. World Cup run ended Tuesday in the Round of 16, but it was through no fault of the 35-year-old North Brunswick, N.J., product, whose 16 saves were the most in the World Cup since FIFA started keeping track in 2002.
“That’s my job. That’s what I signed up to do. It’s part of it,’’ Howard told ESPN moments after the possession-starved U.S. had squandered one of the best goalkeeping efforts in recent memory. “In these big games against top quality competition, the levee is going to break if we continue that. Hats off to Belgium, they were fantastic. But we gave a valiant effort.
“It’s heartbreaking. I don’t think we could’ve given any more. … What a great game of football. We left it all out there. We got beat by a really good team. They took their chances well. It’s heartache. It hurts.’’
Against an Eden Hazard-led Belgium attack that took 55 shots, Howard faced every kind of attempt imaginable, from point-blank headers to bending blasts. And he turned them all away like a brick wall, from diving parries to kick saves.
“When you’re in the game, you don’t really think of that, you just try to fix the problem,’’ said Howard, who left the MetroStars a decade ago for Manchester United and won EPL Goalkeeper of the Year that same season. “You always believe you can do it. God, what an incredible group. Sometimes when you give your best it doesn’t come off, but I’m proud of this group.’’
The U.S. could have trailed 3-0 at halftime if not for Howard, his performance trending on Twitter (#ThingsTimHowardCouldSave), sparking Internet memes and keeping the game scoreless. But after Chris Wondolowski blew an easy scoring chance that could have won it in regulation, Kevin De Bruyne beat not one but two defenders in extra time to finally score on Howard. Romelu Lukaku added another 12 minutes later.
Teenager Julian Green’s goal off the bench halved the lead to buoy the American spirits, but the comeback fell short.
“[It gave us] hope. When we changed over, we said just look try and get a goal. If we get a goal we can put them under real pressure, and at 2-1 I think we did that,’’ Howard told the network. “The dreams fall short. But like I said, this is an incredible group, and I will never forget this night.’’
Will it be his last at this level? Howard — whose 104 caps surpassed Kasey Keller as the most by a U.S. keeper — just inked a four-year contract to stay at Everton until age 39, saying he would retire afterward. The 2018 World Cup is two months after that deal expires. If this was his World Cup swan song, it was a majestic one.
And bittersweet.
“I feel sick to my stomach for Tim,” Keller said. “He kept the team in it throughout the 90 minutes. They had the opportunity at the end. Chris Wondolowski had the opportunity to make those 12 saves count for something, and to count for something absolutely spectacular, and in the end it was just too many.’’