They had the game won. Three minutes into injury time, zeroes on the scoreboard, and the ball at the feet of a lethal finisher, inches from goal... And the ball is miss-hit, and regulation ends, and two goals in extra time, and a thrilling response, and save after save after save after save, and too little too late, and oh boy, are we exhausted.

Let's start with the saves. Tim Howard was beyond amazing, stopping SIXTEEN Belgian shots, a World Cup record. And were those saves needed; the US attack could do absolutely nothing the whole game... until injury time, that is, when Chris Wondolowski had it laid out on the platter, only to miss the net. It would have been the greatest goal in the history of US soccer. It was not to be.

Instead, we went into extra time, and three minutes in, there was a save Howard couldn't made. After Matt Besler failed to clear the ball, Kevin De Bruyne circled around the American defense, and put it where Howard couldn't reach it. And then, in the last minute of the first session, Romelu Lukaku broke free, and made it 2:0. It looked all over.

It wasn't. Jurgen Klinsmann's curious substitution of Julian Green paid off immediately. Two minutes into the second session, the youngster flicked a pass from Michael Bradley into the net. And then, when a clever free kick from Bradley put Clint Dempsey one-on-one with the Belgian keeper...

It was not to be. For the second straight World Cup, the US lost in the Round of 16, 2:1 in extra time. And yet, we can leave this tournament with heads held high. Especially Tim Howard: the best player on the field today came through Metro.