Kings of the Hill

If you're into just looking at the results, there were no surprises in Group C, as the US and England both advanced to the knockout round with wins Wednesday. Sure, the results tell the ultimate story, but boy did you miss out.
How can you really describe how Landon Donovan scored America's only goal in the 91st minute? Goalie Tim Howard, tossed, no flung, no heaved, the farthest throw of a soccer ball I've seen in my life. And I thought it was hard for a shorstop to throw a runner out. This ball was thrown more than half the length of the field to a streaking Donovan.
The US had numbers, as Algeria was on the attack and not set on defense yet. Donovan cut through the middle of the field and dropped off a pass to Jozy Altidore coming from his right. Altidore beat his defender and snuck a pass to a charging Clint Demspey, who stuck the ball off the goalie. With the goalie and last defender lying on the ground, Donavan easily put the ball in the net off the rebound.
That description doesn't do the goal justice. Not even close. England had just secured a 1-0 win over Slovenia, meaning the US would have to win in order to advance. The US couldn't capitalize off of a slew of good scoring chances, and in a deja vu moment, had another questionable offsides call against them that took away a Dempsey goal in the 23rd minute.
It wasn't looking good, to say the least. Bob Bradley opted for another striker when he substituted DaMarcus Beasley for defender Jonathan Bornstein in the 81st minute. It was about that time when I thought this game would end in a tie. My brother turned to me and said, "I didn't even know Beasley was still on the team."
We were both so frustrated about the US inability to score that we complained about Algeria's offensive strategy. "Those bastards are playing for the tie."
"They do know this is a must-win game for them too?"
And then the goal happened. One of the more improbable moments I've witnessed in sports. Some have called it the greatest goal in US history. I don't know about that, but it sure means a lot to me.
With the US win, they earned the top seed out of Group C. The US and England both finished with 5 points, but the US owned the tiebreaker because they outscored the English by 2 goals in group play. The US will now face Ghana in the next round on Saturday. This should be an interesting match up, mainly to see which team will be the aggressor. Ghana sat back and defended a strong German team and could possibly do the same against an offensive minded US squad. The US also may be best served to clamp down defensively early on so they don't find themselves playing from behind. Something will have to give...
I don't want to jinx anything, but (on paper) the US will have the easiest road to the semifinals. With a win against Ghana, the US would face the winner of Uruguay or South Korea. Compare that to the other bracket which already includes Germany, England, and Argentina. Another bracket will house Brazil and the Netherlands, and the other Spain and Portugal (of course, barring unforeseen results). I like the US chances much better in their bracket than any of the others. Keep your fingers crossed.