Just days after stunning the Netherlands 4-3 in Amsterdam, the United States’ men’s national soccer team has won its first-ever victory over Germany on German soil with an inspiring 2-1 upset in Cologne. Hawaiian-born forward Bobby Wood—just as he’d done against the Dutch—scored the winning goal. Both American triumphs over European powers were exhibition “friendly” matches, though Holland and Germany’s lineups each featured a number of top players; Wednesday’s win came against stars such as Bastian Schweinstieger, Mesut Özil, Mario Götze, and André Schürrle. (The U.S., meanwhile, was without several key players itself, among them Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore, and Jermaine Jones.)
In the second half, the Americans were consistently and surprisingly the better team, controlling possession and narrowly missing opportunities to take the lead on several occasions before Wood beat his man and curled a bouncing left-footed shot past the German keeper with only minutes to play.
Germany threatened to break U.S. hearts as a header in stoppage time by soon-to-be Juventus star Sami Khedira floated just over goalie Brad Guzan’s hand—but the ball hit the goal frame and bounced away, and the final whistle sounded shortly thereafter on a historic victory for the good guys.
Yeah, it was an exhibition, sure, whatever. I’m just saying—if Germany runs out of sausage, they could always make do with their national men’s soccer team, because those guys got smoked today.
