(FIFA/Getty Images)
NATAL, Brazil - John Brooks headed in the game-winning goal in the 86th minute to give the United States the 2-1 victory in its first game of the 2014 World Cup, Monday night in Natal. The last time the U.S. faced Ghana in 2010, John Brooks was an after-thought of being a member of the National Team squad playing youth soccer in Berlin, but after his game-winning header, he's larger than life.
“I thanked God for the great moment,” Brooks said. “I dreamed that I scored in the 80th minute and we won the game. It’s unbelievable.”
With the win, the USMNT is in a good position to control its destiny in Group G and demonstrated resiliency of an ambitious, youthful squad.
"The result shows our character," captain Clint Dempsey said. "We got the goal and that caused us to be a little bit more defensive. I thought that we might get a point out of the game, but credit to our team, we kept fighting and we got the goal. We didn’t play our best, but we ground out the result."
U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann said the same in that it was a grind, but a good one after Dempsey scored the fifth fastest goal in World Cup history, 29 seconds. The captain received the ball on the edge of the box off, skipped past Ghana defender John Boye, shot it far-post past goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey.
After Dempsey’s first-minute goal, the U.S. sunk back into defensive mode for the majority of the match, losing the time of possession battle 59 percent to 41 percent and withstanding 21 Ghanian shots, mostly from Asamoah Gyan and Christian Atsu.
Despite leading at halftime, Klinsmann had to use his subs on injuries due to the humidity and field conditions. Forward Jozy Altidore suffered a left hamstring injury in the 21st minute while both Matt Besler and Alejandro Bedoya were subbed off due to tweaked hamstrings.
Fatigue played a factor for the U.S. when the Ghana attack finally broke down the defense allowing Gyan to connect with Andre Ayew inside the 18-yard box to equalize the match for Ghana in the 82nd minute, however there was no sense of panic on the U.S. bench.
"I was still convinced that we would win this game even after Ghana’s equalizer," Klinsmann said. "I had the feeling that another two or three opportunities would come and we just needed to take one, which we did. This was exactly the start we wanted, we had to work hard for it and it’s a great feeling to get the first three points."
Four minutes later, Brooks, who came on for Besler at halftime was able to head in a Graham Zusi corner to seal the victory and three points in the "Group of Death". Brooks became the first substitute in U.S. history to score in World Cup competition. It was his first goal in only his fifth appearance on the national team.
Ghana will now face Germany, who easily defeated Portugal 4-0 on Monday, and look to rebound after watching a crucial point slip away after dominating the match against the US.
"We had a lot of the ball and created a lot of chances, but we didn’t make the most of our chances, but USA took theirs,"Ghana head coach James Kwesi Appiah said. "It’s not going to be easy to qualify for the group, but we’ll give everything to do just that."
Altidore suffered a strained left hamstring, Dempsey a broken nose, but the U.S. will face Portugal Sunday, June 22 in Manaus looking to regroup after the win, avenging two previous World Cup losses against Ghana.
“We know we’ve got a big challenge ahead of us, but it’s a big step,” U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard said. “We put ourselves into a really good position to get through the group.”
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