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SALVADOR, Brazil -- They captured the hearts of America -- from coast to coast, big towns and small, all the way to the White House. Capturing the World Cup will have to wait. Just like four years ago, the United States is going home after the round of 16, beaten when Belgium scored twice in extra time Tuesday and then held on for a 2-1 win. "Thirty-one teams get their heart broken," goalkeeper Tim Howard said. "It has to end sometime. It ended a little bit early for us." Playing the finest game of his career, Howard stopped a dozen shots to keep the Americans even through regulation and force an additional 30 minutes. He wound up with 16 saves -- the most in the World Cup since FIFA started keeping track in 2002. Before exiting, the U.S. showed the spunk that won Americas attention. The Belgians built a two-goal lead when Kevin De Bruyne scored in the 93rd minute and Romelu Lukaku in the 105th. But then Julian Green, at 19 the third-youngest player in the tournament, stuck out his right foot to volley in Michael Bradleys pass over the defence in the 107th, two minutes after entering. "I was sure that we would make the second goal and we would go to the penalty shootout," Green said. The Americans nearly did. In the 114th, Clint Dempsey peeled away on a 30-yard free kick by Bradley, who passed ahead to Chris Wondolowski. He fed Dempsey, and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois bolted off his line to block the 6-yard shot. At the final whistle, the U.S. players fell to the field in their all-white uniforms like so many crumpled tissues. "They made their country proud with this performance and also with their entire performance in this World Cup," said Jurgen Klinsmann, the former German World Cup champion who took over as coach three years ago. The Americans advanced from a difficult first-round group to reach the knockout rounds of consecutive World Cups for the first time. Four years ago, they were eliminated by Ghana 2-1 on a goal in the third minute of extra time. "Getting to the round of 16, if we dont do that, were very, very disappointed," U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati said. "We get here and its kind of the swing game. We get beyond here, then its generally viewed as very successful -- this year was a little different because of the group we had in the first round, so that already was a success." The crowd of 51,227 at Arena Fonte Nova appeared to be about one third pro-U.S., with 10 per cent backing the Belgians and the rest neutral. Back home, millions watched in offices, homes and public gatherings that included a huge crowd at Chicagos Soldier Field. President Barack Obama joined about 200 staffers in an Executive Office Building auditorium to watch the second half. "I believe!" he exclaimed as he walked in at the front of the hall. "I believe!" Belgium outshot the U.S. 38-14. The 35-year-old Howard kept the ball out with slides, with dives and with leaps. But he never felt it was his special night. "If this continues, then were in trouble," he recalled thinking. With forward Jozy Altidore still not recovered from the strained hamstring that had sidelined him since the June 16 opener, Klinsmann inserted Wondolowski as a second striker in the 72nd minute. He appeared to have a chance to win it in stoppage time when Jermaine Jones flicked the ball to him at the top of the 6-yard box, but with Courtois coming out, Wondolowski put the ball over the crossbar. While the linesman put out his flag, it was unclear whether he was signalling goal kick or offside. In the third minute of extra time, Matt Besler tried to intercept a pass to Lukaku but fell down as the Belgian striker fought free. Lukaku sped in alone, crossed, and the ball rebounded off defender Omar Gonzalez. Kevin De Bruyne controlled it, took three touches as he spun and beat Howard just over his right foot. "I thought I could make a play on the ball. I took a shot and missed and lost my balance," Besler said. Twelve minutes later, with the U.S. pushing for an equalizer, Bradleys shot was blocked and De Bruyne burst ahead on a counter. He fed Lukaku, who sent the ball over the left shoulder of Howard, his Everton teammate, and seemingly put the game out of reach. But Green, among five German-Americans on the U.S. roster and a surprise pick, woke up the team and its fans with his first touch, setting off raucous chants of "U-S-A! U-S-A!" There would be no final comeback this time, though. Bradley said the Americans had told themselves that regardless of when their run ended, they wanted to abandon their defensive style of the past. "We wanted to go home going for it," he said. "And," he added with satisfaction, "we did." B.J. Hill Jersey . Like a magic trick, the puck popped out behind Stalock in the San Jose net. While Sharks coach Todd McLellan decried the legality of the tiebreaking goal, the Los Angeles Kings celebrated their latest, greatest escape yet. Kareem Martin Giants Jersey . TSN 1290s game day coverage begins on Monday, June 9 at 5:30pm ct as the Blue Bombers take on the Toronto Argonauts in pre-season action. Bombers game day broadcasts on TSN 1290 are hosted by Winnipeg Blue Bomber Hall of Famers Troy Westwood and new addition Chris Walby, alongside beat reporter Darrin Bauming, who delivers regular reports on the team for TSN 1290 all-season long. http://www.nygiantsfanaticshop.com/Black-Nate-Solder-Giants-Jersey.html?cat=940 . The Toronto Maple Leafs forward and Nashville Predators goaltender highlighted Mondays waiver transactions, with Calgarys Chuck Kobasew and Edmontons Philip Larsen also being placed on waivers. Will Hernandez Jersey . -- Canadas Milos Raonic defeated Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France on Saturday to advance to the third round of the BNP Paribas Open. Saquon Barkley Jersey . A judge had summoned Clemens and Brian McNamee to federal court in Brooklyn for settlement talks aimed at heading off a trial in the defamation case. McNamees lawyer emerged saying an agreement wasnt likely. "I think this is a case where the lines are deeply drawn in the sand," said attorney Richard Emery.Scott Cullen has some post-Olympic notes on Martin St. Louis trade rumours, Team Canada in 2018 as well as NHL Olympic participation in Pyeongchang, South Korea (and beyond). 1. The Internet was abuzz, following the Olympics, about the possibility of the Tampa Bay Lightning dealing leading scorer Martin St. Louis to New York for Rangers captain Ryan Callahan. This was my initital reaction. That isnt to say that the Lightning might not deal St. Louis because, if hes really unhappy after the whole Olympic team selection fiasco, then that might be the impetus for movement. However, the Lightning are in third place in the Eastern Conference, which means they arent just going to give him away, and there are several issues at play with regards to St. Louis future with the team. First, since St. Louis has a no-movement clause, the Lightning are at his mercy should they decide to trade him. If St. Louis says that his preferred destination is the Rangers, because he lives in nearby Connecticut, then you can expect the Rangers to avoid paying fair market value, instead paying closer to monopolistic value, not unlike the Pittsburgh Penguins offered to the Calgary Flames for Jarome Iginla last season. Additionally, if the Lightning are going to shop St. Louis, wouldnt it make much more sense to do it in the offseason, when they might be able to get a better quality return, or perhaps open the trade talks to more than one team (its not like Manhattan is the only NHL location relatively close to Connecticut)? Whatever the deal ends up being, there is little reason for the Lightning to deal St. Louis, straight-up, for an inferior winger with an expiring contract. Maybe Callahan plus works, but it would definitely depend on the plus. The reigning scoring champion cant just be peddled out of town at a cut-rate price if a franchise is going to be seen as legitimate. Considering how torn Lightning GM Steve Yzerman must have been throughout this process, its no wonder that hes had enough as Team Canada GM after back-to-back Olympic gold medals. 2. The 2014 Olympics were barely finished before Mike Johnson was tasked with projecting Team Canada for 2018. Obviously, this requires a lot of projection, going four years ahead of time, but here are some 2014 players that are likely due to be replaced because of age: Roberto Luongo, Mike Smith, Chris Kunitz, Patrick Sharp, Martin St. Louis, Jay Bouwmeester, Dan Hamhuis, Patrick Marleau, Rick Nash and Jeff Carter, all of whom are 29 or older this season. There could easily be more turnover, but filling those 8-10 spots seems a reasonable starting point. In net, I would add Jonathan Bernier (who I would have taken in 2014) to Carey Price. As the number three goaltender, I lean to a younger player like Braden Holtby, even if hes going through some tough times this season. On the blueline, with the right side staying the same -- Drew Doughty, Shea Weber, Alex Pietrangelo, P.K. Subban, along with Duncan Keith and Marc-Edouard Vlasic onn the left -- that leaves room for a couple of new faces.dddddddddddd Today, Ill go with Ryan Murray and Travis Hamonic ahead of Morgan Rielly and Brenden Dillon. Up front, after bringing back Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, John Tavares, Jamie Benn, Matt Duchene and Patrice Bergeron, I add Steven Stamkos, Tyler Seguin, Taylor Hall, Claude Giroux, Logan Couture and Nathan MacKinnon to get to 14 forwards. It pains me to pass over Blue Jackets C Ryan Johansen, but hes one that I find intriguing. The debate will surely rage, but maybe we can put it aside for at least three years before getting caught up in it too much. 3. One other twist, as it pertains to participation in the Olympics, and was mentioned by Gord Miller, is that the NHL could go with the under-23 model that soccer uses in the Summer Olympics. The sticking point, to me, in this plan is that teams arent going to want to continue playing their schedule without some of these top-calibre players. Here are some of the best 22-and-under players in the NHL this season. Can we really expect a team to go forward and play games for a couple of weeks without players of that calibre? Imagine the Colorado Avalanche without Ryan OReilly, Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog, or the Winnipeg Jets minus Evander Kane, Mark Scheifele and Jacob Trouba. Those would be devastating to those particular teams. The other tweak to the option is that NHL teams could decide which players can go which, given previous experience with the World Junior tournament, would pretty much eliminate the participation of NHL players, which begs the question: why impose an age limit at all if NHLers wont be participating? By most accounts, the players always seem in favour of the experience. Those that are playing enjoy it and those that dont enjoy getting some time off during the season. As it stands now, NHL owners and executives have taken the position that they arent so interested in participating in the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea and that could be their legitimate stance, especially after some teams had players suffer injuries while playing in Sochi. At the same time, its also the kind of position that a negotiator would take if they wanted to extract more favourable compensation from the International Olympic Committee. Theres no leverage if you state that youre unequivocally in love with the current relationship. Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs, who has hardly been regarded as being tight with the players, told the New York Times, "I know the importance of competing in the Olympics to many of our players — they are our partners and if it is important to them it should be important to us." That doesnt sound like the door on NHL Olympic participation has been shut altogether. At least not yet. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Cheap Nike Celtics Jerseys Cheap Nike Nets Jerseys Cheap New York Knicks Jerseys Cheap Philadelphia 76ers Jerseys China Raptors Jerseys Wholesale Chicago Bulls Jerseys Wholesale Cleveland Cavaliers Jerseys China Pistons Jerseys Wholesale Indiana Pacers Jerseys Cheap Milwaukee Bucks Jerseys Atlanta Hawks Jerseys Online Cheap Nike Hornets Jerseys China Heat Jerseys Cheap Nike Magic Jerseys China Wizards Jerseys Cheap Nike Nuggets Jerseys China Timberwolves Jerseys China Thunder Jerseys China Blazers Jerseys Cheap Utah Jazz Jerseys China Warriors Jerseys Cheap Nike Clippers Jerseys Discount Lakers Jerseys Phoenix Suns Jerseys Online Cheap Sacramento Kings Jerseys Dallas Mavericks Jerseys Online Wholesale Houston Rockets Jerseys Wholesale Memphis Grizzlies Jerseys New Orleans Pelicans Jerseys Online Discount Spurs Jerseys ' ' '