USA Beats Ghana in the Opener of the World Cup 2-1

The United State entered the World Cup with some what lofty expectations this year as not many people expected them to earn much more than a point the pool play, much less earn three from an opening win against Ghana.  That is exactly what they did however as they pulled off what many considered a substantial upset.

Clint Dempsey (pictured on the left) got the US on the board a mere :32 seconds into Monday's match, but for the next seventy plus minutes, it was all Ghana.  Tim Howard was outstanding, as was center back Geoff Cameron.  The defense, which came into the World Cup with so many doubts, proved to up be to the task even as exhaustion and injuries took their toll.  Jozy Altidore left the match in the first half who pulled his hamstring chasing down a pass from Michael Bradley.

Ghana would even the score thanks to Andre Ayew who tied up the match on a beautiful left-footed shot to the near post 82 minutes in.  The United State would respond almost instantly though as John Brooks (pictured on the right) knocked in a header off a corner kick from Graham Zusi at the 86th minuted of the match that put the Americans up for good.  "We have a great spirit. The US team always has a great spirit and fights until the last second. It was a little bit of a shock that Jozy got injured. It was a grind, but a wonderful win at the end of the day," United States head coach Jurgen Klinsmann said following the stunning victory.

The team will not play against until Sunday, June 22nd when they face off against Christiano Renaldo and Portugal, who fell in their opener against Germany in a blowout by a score of 4-0.  First kick for this Group G match is set for 5pm from Arena Amazônia in the city of Manaus and can be seen on ESPN.