Stars and stripes capture hearts
American public embrace the game in their millions as their heroes lose in the last 16
They captured the hearts of America - from coast to coast, big towns and small, all the way to the White House. But capturing the World Cup will have to wait.
Like four years ago, the United States are going home after the round of 16, beaten when Belgium scored twice in extra time and then held on for a 2-1 win.
"We proved to the world we are a soccer nation!" MLS chief Don Garber said on Twitter.
Thirty-one teams get their hearts broken. It has to end sometime. It ended a little bit early for us
Playing the finest game of his career, goalkeeper Tim Howard stopped a dozen shots to keep the Americans even through regulation and force an additional 30 minutes. He wound up with 16 saves - the most in the World Cup since Fifa started records in 2002.
"Thirty-one teams get their hearts broken," Howard, 35, said. "It has to end sometime. It ended a little bit early for us."
Before exiting, the US showed the spunk that won America's attention. The Belgians built a two-goal lead when Kevin De Bruyne scored in the 93rd minute and Romelu Lukaku in the 105th.
Then Julian Green, at 19 the third-youngest player in the tournament, volleyed in Michael Bradley's pass over the defence in the 107th, two minutes after entering. "I was sure that we would make the second goal and we would go to the penalty shoot-out," Green said.
The Americans nearly did. In the 114th, Clint Dempsey peeled away on a 30-metre free kick by Bradley, who passed ahead to Chris Wondolowski. He fed Dempsey, and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois bolted off his line to block the close shot.