American heroes? Spiderman? Batman? No, not anymore. America has a new nation hero after a World Cup game last Tuesday.
Even though the U.S. lost 1 to 2 against Belgium in the Tuesday round-of-16 match, Tim Howard, the 35-year-old American goalie, became every American’s hero after his impressive 16 saves, which set a world cup record.
The New York Times described Howard using every single part of his body to save the Belgian goals, including his hands, feet, legs and chest. It also joked that Howard using his beard to save goals rumors would be spread soon as his legend grows.
Let’s see what things Howard can save with #TimHowardCouldSave #TimHowardSaves #ThingsTimHowardCouldSave
#ThingsTimHowardCouldSave pic.twitter.com/KlVbXGmQ1o
— BBC Sporf (@BBCSporf) July 2, 2014
.@TimHowardGK Tim Howard can save anything. Here are a few examples. #TimHowardCouldSave https://t.co/vSZuGIzi3p pic.twitter.com/LrXiIK9vqM
— Pixable (@pixable) July 2, 2014
People got crazy talking about his saves and started two petitions urging Howard to be the Secretary of Defense and the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to be renamed after him.
Time said while Howard would not be joining the Obama administration in the near future. The President, Barack Obama joined by the real U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, in a phone call to applaud the team captain and goalkeeper.
From 1 SecDef to another: Hagel calls @timhowardgk to say thanks for defending USA. We (USA) are proud of @ussoccer! pic.twitter.com/M8nsYdlXFn
— U.S. Dept of Defense (@DeptofDefense) July 2, 2014
ABC News reported that Howard was taken to a drug test immediately after the game, not able to join his teammates in the locker room.
“I got dragged into drug testing, again, randomly,” Howard said in a ESPN Radio interview.
FIFA rules require two players from both teams to be randomly drug-tested from each game, but fans wonder how random was Howard being selected.
The 16 saves legend is not enough to describe Howard. There is one more fact you may not know about Howard: He is not only good at goalkeeping, but he once scored a goal before.
According to the Guardian, Howard kicked a surprising goal for Everton, his English Premier League team, in a 2012 game against Bolton. His team was extremely happy for the unpredictable goal, but Howard described it as a “cruel” goal.
“You never want to see that happen,” Howard said. “It’s not nice, it’s embarrassing.”
It is not known if Howard will be playing in the next world cup, which will be held in Russia in 2018, but his Tuesday’s performance already earned his place in every American and perhaps the world soccer fans.
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