Team USA, Belgium have some history in round of 16

SEATTLE — In the aftermath of Belgium’s unlikely comeback to top Senegal and advance in the FIFA Men’s World Cup, veteran midfielder Kevin De Bruyne was asked where the match landed on his all-time list.

De Bruyne’s been around for a while now. He’s played in four World Cups and in massive matches all across Europe.

“I’ve been fortunate to be already involved in a lot of craziness of games,” De Bruyne said.

July 1, 2014, should be one of those days and matches that undoubtedly stands out to De Bruyne. In the Brazilian coastal town of Salvador, a remarkable goalkeeping performance led to a near upset of the favored Belgians and became a gutting missed opportunity for upstart side they were facing that day.

The United States and Belgium will meet in the round of 16 in the World Cup on Monday night in Seattle with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals. And if those words put together sound familiar, it should because that was the case a dozen years ago when the World Cup was played in Brazil.

To be fair, the better team won on that day in 2014. Belgium advanced 2-1 after all three goals were scored in extra time following a 0-0 draw over 90 minutes. But it remains one of the more memorable matches in America’s soccer history because of the spectacular performance from goalkeeper Tim Howard and one big chance in the dying moments of the 90 minutes that could have given the U.S. the upset victory.

The teams that take the field on Monday night at Seattle Stadium will be almost completely different. The U.S. roster is completely changed over from that day 12 years ago. There’s no one left.

For Belgium, it’s a little different as three key names from that team are going to be on the field in some capacity facing the Americans again. De Bruyne played the entire 120 minutes and scored the first goal of that match in the 93rd minute. In the 105th minute, a young striker who had subbed on gave Belgium a 2-0 lead. That was Romelu Lukaku.

And the starting goalkeeper for Belgium that day will be the starting goalkeeper yet again on Monday night in veteran Thibaut Courtois.

But the lasting memory from that game 12 years ago was the goalkeeper at the other end, the night that Howard became a worldwide sensation and cemented his legacy as one of the great American goalkeepers in the country’s soccer history.

Howard set a World Cup record with 16 saves in the match. He was peppered with shots from the opening moments of the match and managed to keep the Belgians scoreless until extra time arrived.

Howard’s mark still stands, although it was threatened earlier in this tournament by Curacao’s Eloy Room, who set a record for saves in a match that finished after 90 minutes with 15 in a group stage contest against Ecuador.

“The loss hurt, but I felt a major sense of pride. Yes, in myself, but beyond that the group had a really good World Cup. … That group of guys who played that night against Belgium couldn’t have given any more,” Howard said on the Unfiltered Soccer podcast he co-hosts with Landon Donovan last month.

That World Cup team featured a couple of significant Seattle connections on the roster. Clint Dempsey was the captain of the squad during his first full season playing for the Sounders. Dempsey scored a pair of goals in the group stage and had a chance late in extra time to send the match against Belgium to penalties, only to be denied by Courtois.

DeAndre Yedlin was a 20-year-old who had just emerged into the conversation with the national team shortly before the World Cup and ended up being a super-sub used by head coach Jurgen Klinsmann throughout the tournament. In the match against Belgium, Yedlin came on in the 32nd minute for his most extensive playing time in the tournament. His performance in Brazil helped lead Yedlin to a move to the Premier League the following season.

After the game, Dempsey was asked about the influence the tournament run in 2014 could have on the next wave of American players to come — in the same way 1994 boosted his generation.

Yes it can. We are taking this to the next level, it looks good for the future,” Dempsey told the BBC. "There is a stat about the average age watching the World Cup being 38. That shows that people who have played the game, have grown with the game are passing it down to their kids. That is going to help us, it is great to see that the game is on the rise.

To an extent, that’s being seen now. The current U.S. roster features only three players older than 30 — one of which is Cristian Roldan. The crux of the group that has now taken the U.S. back to the round of 16 were in middle school or high school during that 2014 run.

And now this group can create their own impressions and memories for a new generation and perhaps get a bit of payback for 12 years ago if they can get past Belgium this time.

“Coming into the tournament there were a lot of question marks about our whole team in general,” U.S. defender Chris Richards said after the win over Bosnia, “and game by game we started to prove people wrong and prove ourselves right.”

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