Recap, highlights and tears for a US - Portugal 2-2 tie

Can a tie be devastating? Absolutely. The final score was 2-2, but that really doesn't explain how this went down. The US led this game until the 95th minute. You could have held your breath for another 15 seconds and the game was over. Bigger still, if the US hangs on, they were set to advance to the next round of the tournament, and getting out of the "group of death" was always the goal.

It's still a small consolation at this point, but with the tie the US is still in a decent to move forward in the group. What's more positive moving forward about tonight is how good the US looked for most of the night. Aside from two pretty flukey goals, the US was sharp and patient in possession and created lots of good chances going forward.

Here are your highlights, and recap below.

Scoring started in the 5th minute, when US centerback Geoff Cameron made a terrible clearance that landed right at the feet of a Portugese attacking player right in front of Timmy Howard. Howard had no chance and the scoring was on. The US did not seem rattled by the goal though, and created chance after chance in the first half, mainly through right back Fabian Johnson getting forward and into dangerous positions. Jermaine Jones equalized off a corner kick, with one of the goals of the tournament so far (more after the jump) and Clint Dempsey eventually found his way on the end of a Graham Zusi cross. To put the US ahead. Of course it was not to be for the Americans as 5 minutes of stoppage time were added to the end of play, and wouldn't you know it Portugal scored at 94:30. Heartbreaking tie for the USMNT.

I've got to say Michael Bradley had a better bounce back game, but you could easily make him the goat of this match. He was on the end of a cross at the five yard line early in the second half with the goalie out of net that he put straight into the one defender covering the goal. Touch that a corner and it should have been a goal. Bradley also made a crucial error in the final minute of play that led to Ronaldo's break down the right side. With the ball at his feet, he tried to turn upfield. Normally this type of play is his forte, but you've got to be aware of how much time is on the clock. In this case only 30 seconds were left before the final whistle and Braldey should have put this ball six rows up into the stands. Just AWAY. ANYWHERE but a turnover. As it was though Bradley lost possession which led to a pass to Ronaldo on the right hand side. Ronaldo whipped in a perfect cross-really his only contribution to this game-and it was headed home by the lone attacking player in the box.

Again Timmy Howard had no chance

Best Player: Jermaine Jones, M USA. What you're going to see on Sportscenter for the next week is Jones's goal, so I'll talk about that first. Jones collected a rebound off a corner kick, and from about 20 yards out curled a shot into the far corner. My USA sentiments aside, this was one of the best goals of the tournament so far. The level of skill - and luck - to curl through all those defenders is really pretty amazing. If I was taking odds on that shot I would give 50% chance of sailing over the crossbar, 30% chance of getting blocked on the way through. Really an impressive display of skill.

What you don't know about Jones if you didn't watch this game is just how HARD he worked the entire game. From whistle to whistle, Jones is sprinting from box to box. Mostly, Jones is in the game to wreck your shit. He was a nightmare on defense, and active on offense hitting several good balls forward. He was also primarily tasked with shutting down Ronaldo. Not an easy task, but you know why you didn't see Ronaldo touch the ball all night (until of course the ill fated last cross)? Most likely it was because Jones was standing at his elbow and screaming German swear words into his ear and taking his cookies every time the ball got close.

Jones is usually in here for stuff like this

And this. 

What it means: Standings in Group G are currently: Germany 4, USA 4, Portugal 1, Ghana 1. The top two teams advance from the group, and the US can advance with:

A win against Germany: US would win the group and advance
A tie to Germany: at 5 point a piece, Germany and the US would advance.

If Ghana or Portugal win by a slim margin: this one is a bit more complicated, but right now we have 4 points with a +1 goal differential. Ghana has a -1 differential, and Portugal has a -4 differential. Ghana would need to win by 1, and have the US lose by 1 to qualify. Portugal has a much higher mountain to climb, they would need to win by 3 and have the US lose by 2.

All that to say this: If the US beat Germany, we're in, if we tie Germany, we're in. If we lose, we need to lose close-by one no more than 1 goal. Also, Portugal can do us a big favor by beating Ghana by 2 or fewer. So as hard as it may be after this loss,

GO PORTUGAL!

(GO USA)