Howard Hugely Influential For US
America’s qualification for the round of 16 in the FIFA World Cup 2014 is a bit of a surprise for most of the football fans, if not all. The Yanks managed to get through a group which had Germany, Ghana and Portugal in it. That’s remarkable considering the fact that even their own fans were not hopeful of them reaching this stage.
The underdog teams generally play out of their skins and create upsets when they have got an inspirational leader who makes them believe that they can get better of the top sides and the story of USA in the ongoing World Cup is no different.
Their shot stopper, Tim Howard, has been hugely influential for them in Brazil so far. He has been the main reason why the Yanks have done so well in the tournament and are still in it when most of the weak sides are out.
The thing about this USA side which has impressed the pundits and the fans is their style of play. They have been playing fearless football without caring about the players who are in the opposition camp. They way they attacked in the first half in their game against Portugal, it was extraordinary.
The team that USA would be up against in the Round of 16 is Belgium and Howard knows a lot about that team. He has played in the Premier League for the last 10 years or so and thus, has regularly faced a number of Belgian players. He has even played alongside a couple of them at Everton. So, he would certainly help his manager in the strategy making for the game and one should not be surprised, if under his leadership on Tuesday, the Yanks stun the football world again.