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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;SALVADOR, Brazil \u2014 The U.S. is out of World Cup 2014, but not before giving Belgium and the soccer-watching world a game until the end of a 2-1 extra-time loss in the Round of 16.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here are my four quick thoughts on the game:\r\n\r\n&lt;h2 class=\"p1\"&gt;A thrilling U.S. World Cup run is over, but Belgium deserved to win&amp;nbsp;&lt;/h2&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The U.S. survived a Belgium-dominated game long enough to take it to extra time, but Belgium\u2019s quality won out in the end in an unforgettable match that provided heart-stopping moments until the final whistle. The U.S. was left for dead after Belgium went up 2-0 in extra time, but Julian Green\u2019s 107th-minute goal electrified a crowd that began thunderous chants of \"U-S-A.\"&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;You can question the Americans\u2019 talent at times, but you can\u2019t ever question their heart. The U.S. equalizer chances came, most notably Clint Dempsey\u2019s late shot that was saved by Thibaut Courtois, but in the end Tim Howard could only stand on his head so long.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Howard\u2019s 16 saves were the most by a World Cup keeper since 1966, but Kevin De Bruyne provided flashbacks of Ghana\u2019s goal (in the same exact minute, the 93rd) that sank the U.S. in the round of 16 four years ago. That changed the game, opening up the U.S. for Belgium\u2019s game-winner by Romelu Lukaku. But Green\u2019s response and the U.S.\u2019s late charge won over even more fans for this U.S. team, at home and abroad, in a game nobody will soon forget.\r\n\r\n&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\notsembed.embed(\r\n{\r\ntarget:\"otse\",\r\nsegment:82566804,\r\nwidth: document.getElementById('otse').offsetWidth,\r\n}\r\n);\r\n\r\n\r\n&lt;h2&gt;Jurgen Klinsmann will face some hard questions now&amp;nbsp;&lt;/h2&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Every conceded goal is the result of a mistake, Klinsmann says, and while that\u2019s debatable, it was certainly the case on De Bruyne\u2019s goal, which began with miscues by Dempsey and Michael Bradley in possession and continued with Matt Besler\u2019s slip while marking Lukaku and continued again in the box as U.S. players scrambled in vain to stop De Bruyne\u2019s tremendous finish. \r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But Klinsmann made mistakes too. He waited far too long to bring on his third substitute (Green), who ended up scoring the U.S. goal. Klinsmann also will face questions over whether it was the right move to radically change Bradley\u2019s position to attacking central midfielder so soon before the tournament. Bradley is more at home as a box-to-box midfielder, and Dempsey\u2019s late move to midfield showed perhaps that\u2019s where he should have played. Then there\u2019s this question:\r\n\r\n&lt;h2 class=\"p1\"&gt;Why so many U.S. hamstring injuries?&lt;/h2&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When right back Fabian Johnson, one of the U.S.\u2019s most important players, went out of this game with a hamstring injury, it marked the third time in this World Cup that a U.S. player had suffered a hamstring issue that we knew about. Both Jozy Altidore and Besler left the tournament\u2019s first game with hamstring injuries, and if three instances makes a trend, you have to wonder if there was something that the U.S. training staff could have done better to prevent such soft-tissue injuries here. Did the U.S. overtrain? Was there a problem in the recovery process between games? Or was this just a horribly bad coincidence in Brazil? When it happens this often, questions needs to be asked\u2014and answered.\r\n\r\n&lt;h2&gt;This U.S. team will be remembered fondly by fans new and old&amp;nbsp;&lt;/h2&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For a few weeks, this American outfit turned this into the Summer of Soccer in the United States, drawing the biggest U.S. TV audiences ever for the sport and uniting Americans behind a common cause both in Brazil and in giant public viewing parties across the country. The U.S. advanced from perhaps the tournament\u2019s most difficult group and at times showed a soccer IQ and possession game that made the world take notice.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;At other times, the U.S. relied on the time-honored American traits of athleticism, grit and an unwillingness ever to give up in the face of challenges. Johnson\u2019s hamstring injury could have sunk the U.S. in this game, but 20-year-old DeAndre Yedlin came on and had the game of his life in Johnson\u2019s place. That kind of performance was why the U.S. fell in love with this team.\r\n\r\n&lt;h3 class=\"p1\"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;GALLERY: Shots from Belgium 2, USA 1&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/soccer/planet-futbol/2014/07/01/usa-belgium-world-cup-tim-howard-lukaku-green-round-16>