In a stunning fashion this past Sunday, June 2nd, The United States managed to defeat Germany 4-3 in an international friendly. This is unthinkable to many in the football world because Germany is ranked 2nd in the FIFA World rankings, and the United States is ranked 29th. So naturally, it is within reason to assume that Germany should have won the match, due to them heavily outranking the United States team by 27 teams. Not many sports analysts predicted this outcome, even with Germany not using it's first squad.
In the thirteenth minute, the United States took the lead with a goal by Jozy Auditore, assisted with a cross by Graham Zusi. Two minutes later, late into the fifteen minute, the US offensive pressured Germany's defense on a goal kick and forced German goalie Marc-Andre ter Stegen to make an error, resulting in an own-goal. The United States were up 2-0 at the half. Arguably, this mistake could be said to be the cause of Germany's loss, because they eventually would come back and score three goals. This would have tied the game 3-3 had it not been for the own goal. This own-goal received backlash on Twitter, when Grant Wahl from Sports Illustrated tweeted:
"Ridiculous own goal by Germany. Decent pressure by US, but that should never happen at this level. 2-0."
A goal is a goal though, and things like this happen in sports all the time. If mistakes like this did not happen, then everyone would be a perfect machine, and there would be no wins; only draws. Soccer is not just a game of skill, it is one of patience. You can't just go score goals, you have to build up to that point, whether it may be playing defensively and then exploding into an all out offensive, or just constantly putting pressure on the ball.
In the second half, Heiko Westermann, a German defender, scored in the fifty-first minute to cut the lead to 2-1. Immediately after, in the fifty-ninth minute, Clint Dempsey volleys a ball from the top of the penalty line to increase the United State's lead to 3-1. Dempsey strikes again in sixty-third minute, with a goal that resulted from cutting out a defender, lining up a shot, and kicking it left-footed uncontested into the German goal. With two goals in the game, Dempsey moved to second on the United State's all time international scoring list, only behind Landon Donovan.
Germany managed to score two more goals before the end of the game, but it was not enough, as the United States held on to win 4-3. This game was only an international friendly though; there are more important matter at hand coming this week, such as the three world cup qualifiers. On June 7, the United States will face Jamaica; on June 11, the US will face Panama; and on the 18th, they will face Honduras. If the United States wins all three matches, they will be guaranteed a spot in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
