The Netherlands and Chile are playing a World Cup match on Monday to see who will win Group B and the game from Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo starts up at 12 pm noon ET on ESPN and the WatchESPN website as the Dutch try and take the group draw into the knockout round after helping to eliminate Spain from the group.
The United States suffered a very tough draw on Sunday and while that was a positive result, the team was seconds away from getting into the knockout stage before a cross from Ronaldo. The team was up 2-1 after Clint Dempsey was able to put in a chest shot goal from a kick by Graham Zusi and that was after the 83rd minute and in extra time the team broke down and allowed the tying goal. That score kept Portugal alive in the group and now they are playing against Ghana in the final game and that could help decide who makes it into the next round.
The United States now has a very tough matchup with Germany and both these teams have the chance to get into the knockout stage with a draw and that could be what the teams play to on Thursday. The German side and the United States can advance with a draw and both know that Ghana and Portugal are down and have no choice but to win. Germany and the United States have four points in the Group G standings and the Germans are ahead on goal differential and now the US is praying that they can get through, or that Ronaldo cross will go down history as one of the most devastating plays for the Americans.
Things got off to a bad start early after Geoff Cameron missed on a clear and allowed Nani and uncontested shot that he put in, but the team did not give up. The United States continued pushing and had a number of scoring chances, including when Michael Bradley had an open net with the goalie out of position, but he missed after a Portugal player blocked his shot and that led to another fantastic play. Jermaine Jones had the first goal for the US, putting in a fantastic shot from outside the box after turning and pulling a perfect shot to the left that froze Beto.
Later in the match, Graham Zusi put a ball right into the front of the net and Clint Dempsey put it off his chest into the next and that gave the team the late lead. The next goal came in extra time and just seconds before the game ended and now the United States has to focus on the game against Germany after missing out on being the team to clinch a spot from Group G first. Making things even more dramatic for the US is the fact that many did not give the team a chance at all to win the "group of death" and they were seconds away from making it into the round of 16, but now they have to try and get a point from the final game to lock up their spot.
