You didn’t need to know much about futbol to notice that Tim Howard was the United States' savior throughout a tough Round of 16 match against Belgium.
The Americans lost 2-1, but it wasn’t for lack of effort. The 16-save performance by Howard was the best performance in a World Cup by a goalkeeper since 1966. The Everton goalkeeper said, in a raspy voice in an interview this morning with CNN, that he felt in rhythm throughout the tournament and that his reaction times felt quick. But that he could see the “big bad wolf” knocking on the door and that he was “weary that the levee would break.” The guy even talks like a super hero.
The performance was one that captivated the nation and spurred the creation of a spectacular hashtag: #ThingsHowardCouldSave. US fans even started an official White House petition to change the name of Ronald Reagan Airport to be named after the American goalkeeper. Before we look at the hilarious memes and tweets, take a quick look at the monstrous 16 saves Howard made against Belgium.
Now, thanks to the internet, we present our favorite Tim Howard memes!
Just as someone did to John Brooks wikipedia page, Tim Howard's page got a quick makeover after the match yesterday:
— HuffPostUK Pictures (@HuffPostUKPics) July 2, 2014
— Stewey Griffn (@SteweyGriffn) July 2, 2014
— Tahira Mirza (@tahiramirza1) July 2, 2014
For Game of Thrones fans out there:
— Memento (@ja1m3lucky) July 2, 2014
— Footy Humour (@FootyHumour) July 2, 2014
Now for the Jesus references:
Number of saves in history: 1. Jesus 2. Tim Howard
— Kayla Jones (@kaylavictoria58) July 1, 2014
Difference between Tim Howard and Jesus - Jesus had 11 guys he could trust
— Patrick Osgood (@PatrickOsgood) July 1, 2014
Jesus puts on “Tim Howard saves” t-shirt.
— The Fake ESPN (@TheFakeESPN) July 1, 2014
At the end of the day, there were 9.1 million tweets during the USA-Belgium game and Tim Howard was mentioned in 1.8 million of them - meaning he was mentioned in 1 of every 5 tweets. That's pretty impressive, given that normally goalies are the object of public hatred and not adoration. Nice work, Timmy Howard.
Over 1.8 m mentions of Tim Howard (@TimHowardGK) during #BEL v #USA LINK: http://t.co/oRBLfxa73O pic.twitter.com/iHObfXjCzl
— Twitter Reverb (@TwitterReverb) July 1, 2014
