THE UNITED STATES were on course for the knock-out stages of the World Cup, last night, before Guillermo Varela headed home for Portugal with 30 seconds to spare.
The 2-2 draw means the USA can still qualify for the last 16 by avoiding defeat against Germany on Thursday. That is scant consolation to the growing number of Americans that have hopped on the World Cup bandwagon.
The match made it to the front pages of all of the States’ top newspapers with The Washington Post featuring a picture of Varela and distraught Us goalkeeper Tim Howard with the headline ‘The agony of not quite victory’.
New York Post cried ‘Kick in the Gut’ while several outlets ran with the pithy ‘Fit to be Tied’. Headline of the day, however, goes to The Sacramento Bee in California.
Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune continued with the theme of devastated supporters:
Meanwhile in Portugal, Correio da Manhã suggested that Portugal’s fate lies in the hands of the Germans. The USA, managed by former Germany striker Jürgen Klinsmann, face the three-time World Cup winners, managed by Joachim Löw, next.
