Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The USMNT saw their chances of advancing into the Round of 16 cut short after a cross from Cristiano Ronaldo found his teammate Silvestre Varela for the game-timing header.
Geoff Cameron and Graham Zusi have turned from players to love, to players to not be very happy with. Why you my ask? It is simple really. Cameron allowed both Portugal goals to happen because of his miss-hit on a clearance that resulted in a Nani goal. He also was the man marking Varela on the last goal of the match. Obviously Cameron is still a great player who has a lot of potential, but being the cause of both goals makes it hard to like him right now.
For Zusi, he is the reason the fifth minute of stoppage time even happened. Because of him taking to long to get off the field while being substituted off last night, the fourth official added one more minute of added time, thus resulting in five minutes instead of four. Regardless of the matter, Zusi is the main reason that Portugal scored their final goal.
Aside from these two downers, there were several positives in the match. The USMNT saw three of the top players excel to great heights during the match. Because of these three players, it allowed the USMNT to make huge leaps forward throughout the match.
The American Pitch has our official player ratings from the USMNT vs. Portugal match last night.
Tim Howard-(7) Howard played very well last night, coming-up with several big time saves. Even though he could have done better on the final goal, he still played well and will be crucial for the USMNT in the final match against Germany.
Fabian Johnson-(7) If any USMNT fans have doubts about how quick and versatile Johnson can be, re-watch last nights match. Johnson created many chances for his team, and proved more than once, that he is very talented on counter attacks.
Matt Besler-(6) His performance was about the same from the first match against Ghana. Besler controlled the flow of the defense well and made sure that Ronaldo did not make it through the middle of the field.
Geoff Cameron-(4) It is hard to not give Cameron a worse rating, but there were times that he played well on defense. Players have bad games all the time, but in the World Cup, if you mess-up like Cameron did, it can led to many unforgiving fans.
Jermaine Jones-(8) The German-American midfielder was the hardest working player on the field last night. Not only did he score the first goal of the match for the USMNT, but he continued to play excellent defense throughout the entire match. His contributions overshadowed the play of many others on the field.
Michael Bradley-(5) The general consensus around the United States, is that Bradley has yet to show-up in this World Cup. He played incredibly well in the send-off matches, but since that point, he has struggled tremendously.
Alejandro Bedoya-(4) Bedoya was all over the field against Ghana, but last night, he was making more mistakes than positives. His presence needs to be felt against Germany for his team to truly rely on him to make big plays.
Kyle Beckerman-(5) The Real Salt Lake midfielder played well and made sure that Ronaldo did not run through his midfield. This match was a large improvement for Beckerman in many ways.
Graham Zusi-(6) Aside from his time-wasting tactics that ended in shambles for the USMNT, Zusi recorded his second assist of the World Cup. His presence was felt and his service on corner kicks was commendable.
Clint Dempsey-(7) Playing as the lone forward was certainly a good experiment for the USMNT and Dempsey. His goal was creative and fun to watch happen. Having a second striker may have helped as well, but Dempsey did a fine job overall.
Omar Gonzalez-(5) We did not see much from him last night, except for a few good balls cleared out of the box. He did his job well overall.
Chris Wondolowski-(5) Fans were calling for his presence in the match much earlier then it came. When he finally made his appearance, it was clean and quality.
DeAndre Yedlin-(8) Wow, an absolutely amazing performance by the young Seattle Sounders player. His pace was a welcome touch and was vital in the last goal of the match for the USMNT. Look for him to see more minutes against Germany on Thursday.