You could forgive American supporters of the United States men's national team for their relative ignorance of the sides Jurgen Klinsmann's team played in Group G of this World Cup.
If you had known a great deal about Ghana's national team before the Americans beat them, consider yourself part of a serious football minority. African football does not get much coverage in the States.
Just about everyone knew who Cristiano Ronaldo was, but that is only because he and Argentina's Lionel Messi are the two best players on the planet. After Ronaldo, Portugal's side was relatively nameless.
And though the German team is full of internationally known footballers (most notably Thomas Muller), the Bundesliga is another competition that lacks cachet in America.
Against Belgium, though, American fans were treated to a match against many familiar names and faces thanks to the Premier League's infiltration into the American sports scene.
Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United), Eden Hazard (Chelsea) and Vincent Kompany (Manchester City) all started for Belgium. Simon Mignolet (Liverpool) and Romelu Lukaku (Everton ) were on the Belgian team sheet. Even a casual Premier League watcher should know who these players are.
Consequently, even casual Premier League observers had to know just what the Americans were up against in this clash with Belgium.
Here are six takeaways from United States 1-2 Belgium.
//from Bleacher Report http://ift.tt/1lQzeq5
via IFTTT July 01, 2014 at 03:36PM
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