President Howard

By: Connor Lenahan

The picture above pretty much perfectly captures what happened this afternoon. Even though we lost to Belgium in the World Cup, thus ending the incredible run for the United States, we did so in dramatic fashion.

We surged late behind the attempted heroics of Julian Green, a 19 year old who netted a goal that suddenly reinvigorated the Americans with only minutes to play in extra time. Even though Green appears to be the future – and one hell of a bright it appears to be – I want to talk about the present. Specifically the next President of the United States, Tim Howard.

TIM HOWARD IS A MONSTER. Yup, that’s pretty much how objective I can be about it. If he is not the next President then we are doing this wrong. He is the only choice. He is the right choice.

He already became the secretary of Defense for the United States this afternoon by saving 16 shots. This is a large number of saved shots regardless of if you’re a futbol aficionado or a relative newcomer. In fact, it’s the most by any goalkeeper in a World Cup match since 1966.

Tim Howard wasn’t just good. He was historically great. He put the United States in the record books with an amazingly impressive performance. For this, he shall be rewarded with our finest meats, cheeses, and women. We owe you it all Tim.

This is a rare case where my joking hyperbole might actually be justified. Tim Howard was a beast this World Cup. Without him we do not escape the group stage. Without him we aren’t even competitive in this tournament. We seriously owe the lion’s share of our success in Brazil to President Howard.

Sadly this is the end of the line for the USMNT. But, you know what? This might be perfect. I think losing with such a great effort late is actually a success for our team. The remaining teams are terrifying. To say we made it this far is incredible. We made the round of 16 while Spain, England, Italy, and Portugal were sent home. That’s a moral victory. Plus we were one bounce away from advancing to the round of 8 to, presumably, get schooled by Messi’s Argentina. I’m totally fine losing close rather than getting obliterated.

Most of all, this team brought people together from all over the country in a sense of patriotism that is seen all too rarely. To see thousands to millions of people all coming together as one and collectively losing their mind over Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard is beautiful.

Hopefully this is a new, exciting era for American soccer. But it will be a bit before we see if that’s true. For now, thank you to the American boys for captivating a nation for two weeks.

And President Howard, we will love you forever.

Connor Lenahan (@ConnorLenahan) is a sophomore at Boston University, majoring in journalism.