Even Belgium captain Vincent Kompany tweeted: "Two words.. TIM HOWARD (hash)Respect (hash)BelUSA." That post had received 59,675 re-tweets and 45,242 favorites by early evening Wednesday. "It's fantastic because it also shows how all the games in the World Cup were received back at home," U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said, "and many people watched this competition maybe more than it was four years ago in South Africa. It's fun to see that, and he deserves every compliment for his game last night."
The hashtag Things TimHowardCouldSave was trending on Twitter, and fans superimposed his image into all sorts of famous scenes. There's an outstretched Howard preventing the Titanic from sinking, and breaking up Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" goal. "With social media, nothing surprises me," Howard said. "There are some very creative and fun individuals out there."
The team was scheduled to fly back to the U.S. late Wednesday, and Howard soon will return to his Premier League club, Everton. Millions of Americans will be rooting for Howard to play in the 2018 World Cup. That's something Howard will discuss with those close to him.
"What happens going forward with the national team, I don't know," he said. "I don't think it's very black and white, to be honest. I need to figure all that out."Howard had 15 shutouts -- one behind co-leaders Petr Cech of Chelsea and Wojciech Szczesny of Arsenal -- in 37 league matches for Everton this season before joining the Americans in mid-May for training camp in Northern California. In the spring, he signed a two-year contract extension through 2018 and is likely to close out his career with Everton.
"He was fantastic. There's no other way to put it," midfielder Michael Bradley said. "He's somebody that we rely on so much for his performances on the field but also his leadership and his presence. So honestly, there's not enough good things to say about him as a player, as a man, as a leader." Klinsmann knows how much he meant for the Americans reaching back-to-back World Cup knockout rounds.
"I'm lucky to be in a long line of great goalkeepers," Howard said when asked about his legacy. "I don't think you can ever prepare yourself for those types of performances."
