Did they back in? Sure they backed in. Did the U.S. have to rely on Portugal Thursday afternoon more than at any time, probably, since 1791, when the Portuguese became the first neutral country to recognize the fledgling United States? You bet.
Did Ronaldo score the most important goal of the whole World Cup for the United States, despite running on a pitch in Brasilia that stands some 1,325 miles away from the one on which the Americans were slipping and sliding and sloshing in Recife?
He did indeed.
So, yes: If any of these things are inclined to harden your resistance to the World Cup, then by all means rip away. It may be your right, but you’d be wrong. We are, after all, a country consisting of sports where “backing in” isn’t simply allowed, it’s celebrated.
EXAMPLE A: The 2000 Yankees, who somehow qualified for the playoffs despite losing their last seven games and 15 of their last 18 … and then won the 11 games that mattered most, in the postseason, over the A’s, Mariners and Mets.
EXAMPLE B: The 2004 Jets – who got crushed on the season’s final day in St. Louis, who only made the playoffs because the Steelers’ scrubs somehow went into Buffalo that same day and beat the Bills – who then went to San Diego and beat the 12-4 Chargers and would’ve beaten the 15-1 Steelers in Pittsburgh if Doug Brien didn’t doink a couple of would-be game-winners.
Yankees fans didn’t squawk at backing in while they were shaking confetti off themselves at the Canyon of Heroes. And while Brien gave Jets fans that year’s reason to mutter to themselves, nobody was apologizing for gagging against the Rams in Week 17. “Backing in” is another way of saying: “We got in!”
You think folks in London or Lisbon would argue much about backing in at this point? How about Barcelona or Madrid?
Rome or Milan?
Unless we are talking about Rome, N.Y., or Milan, Ind., because the United States did what it needed to do Thursday, in the torrential rains at Arena Pernambuco: It advanced out of group play, out of the so-called “Group of Death,” into the Round of 16, into the knockout phase of the tournament.
It could have done this the easy way, by simply drawing with Germany, and while there clearly was no pre-match deal-making, it did seem for the longest time that the Germans were perfectly willing to play along until realizing, early in the second half, just how much better they were and figured: Was zur Hölle? What the hell?
Soon thereafter, it was 1-0.
And sooner still, Ghana tied Portugal, and with more than a half an hour of soccer left on two pitches, in cities located as far away from each other as New York and Sioux Falls, S.D., there was suddenly a legitimate chance the Americans could be ushered out of this tournament, despite all the buzz and the good feeling generated by the past few weeks.
But that didn’t happen. Ronaldo, who’d broken so many American backs four days earlier, scored his first (and last) goal of the tournament thanks to a terrible decision by the Ghana goaltender which, coupled with an own goal by Ghana’s John Boye earlier in the game meant Ghana was a goner.
Good night, John Boye.
Hello, knockout round.
And now the tournament speaks a language with which we are familiar. No more worries about point differentials, this is all about old-time, old-school, Jimmy V survive-and-advance, one-and-done. Oh, there are still a few tics and quirks of the game that will drive the newbies nuts in the days (or weeks) ahead, and Twitter and talk radio might simultaneously blow up if the Americans are sent home thanks to a loss that goes to penalty kicks.
All of that is to come. For now, for the next few days, we can resume our usual pursuits around here, see if the Yankees can slap around the Red Sox a little bit, see if the Knicks can pluck a steal or two out of the draft, see if Tiger can make it through 36 holes upright. And then …
“Now,” Jurgen Klinsmann said, “we really get started.”
No apologies from the coach for backing in. None necessary. Put in a parlance we can understand: The U.S. is in the Sweet 16. Still alive. Still kicking. Survive and advance. Four wins away from a Miracle on Grass.