United States’ John Brooks celebrates scoring the winner against Ghana (Picture: AP)

The United States didn’t play particularly well on Monday night, but John Brooks gave us one of the moments of the World Cup and one of the memorable celebrations.

Up until the defender’s 86th minute winner, Ghana had been knocking on the door and a winner was looking more likely from their end than the USA’s. But a match full of dreadful end product, with inaccurate crossing and wayward shooting made the American’s lives a bit more comfortable.

Clint Dempsey gave the Americans the best possible start with a goal inside 40 seconds. The former Fulham man danced through the Ghana defence and finished nicely past Adam Kwarasey, who looked like a deer caught in headlights so early into the game.



From that point on, Jurgen Klinsmann’s side looked unspectacular but unthreatened. Dreadlocked midfielder Kyle Beckerman gave one of the midfield performances of the tournament, breaking up play superbly, covering an unbelievable amount of ground and helping shield an inexperienced defence. His defensive midfield partner Jermaine Jones struggled early on but stood up as the game went on and put in an excellent second half performance.


United States’ Kyle Beckerman was excellent against Ghana (Picture: AP)

Beckerman’s performance did no harm for the MLS’ reputation. A life-long MLS player, his performance had even had the BBC commentators suggesting a possible European move despite being 32-years-old.

Tim Howard was tremendous in goal and showed great leadership and awareness anytime the goal was in danger. His defence, however, was a little nervous and John Brooks in particular – a half-time substitute for injured Matt Besler – was shaky. The equaliser from Andre Ayew looked like it had coming, but it was Ghana’s one bit of incisive play in and around the box and just like Dempsey, the Black Stars took their best chance to score.

The Americans lacked a lot of attacking power after Jozy Altidore went down clutching his hamstring in the 23rd minute. Michael Bradley was uncharacteristically poor for the USA, unable to make any impact on the game. Dempsey started spectacularly but waned as the game went on.

This made Brooks’ goal all the more crucial as it didn’t look likely to come from anywhere. The Hertha Berlin defender had come on to make his fifth cap for his country and left one of US football’s greatest heroes, providing us a tremendous World Cup moment in a tournament full of tremendous moments.

His celebration was a mixture of passion, shock and utter relief. It was Salvatore Schillaci’s moment against Ireland. Now most importantly for the USA, they are in a strong position for qualification. But the tougher tasks lie ahead against Portugal and Germany.

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