U.S. national soccer team’s Tim Howard became a national hero Tuesday night after making a record-breaking 16 saves during the nations World Cup game against Belgium.

Tim Howard Blocks 16 Goals

After shocking the world by making it out of the first round of the World Cup, the U.S. faced Belgium on Tuesday in one of the most watched soccer games to date. For 90 minutes, the tension-filled game remained tied at 0-0, mostly thanks to U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard. In overtime, Belgium was able to take the win 2-1, and, while U.S. fans were crushed, they were also incredibly impressed with Howard’s performance.

Throughout the course of the game, Howard blocked 16 goals – the highest on record in a World Cup match – and pundits agreed his performance was spectacular.

Following the game, Howard supporters took over the Internet, starting a number of Twitter hashtags. One fan even changed the Wikipedia entry for the US Secretary of Defense to Tim Howard.

#ThingsTimHowardCouldSave

Meanwhile, the hashtag ‘#ThingsTimHowardCouldSave’ is still trending on Twitter. Fans have created hundreds of memes, photoshopping Howard into photos of historical events – the sinking of the Titanic, the extinction of the dinosaurs – and pop culture moments, including the death of Ned Stark on Game of Thrones.

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Some companies jumped on the bandwagon. Environmental group, the Sierra Club, created a photo of Howard holding the earth in the palm of his hand.

Howard has even been photoshopped into other viral photos, such as the Shovel Girl Vine.

Making the morning news rounds Wednesday, Howard told Good Morning America that, though he had yet to see any of the popular memes, they sounded “quite funny." He also thanked fans for their support, saying that all their newfound soccer fans inspired the U.S. team.

“We were motivated by that and inspired. It gave us hope and recognition that we were doing it for more than ourselves and it was special,” Howard told GMA.

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More on the 2014 Wolrd Cup:

_{> USA Falls To Belgium In World Cup Round Of 16}

_{> Luis Suarez Apologizes For Causing Giorgio Chiellini 'Physical Result Of A Bite'}

_{> USA Loses To Germany, Still Advances To World Cup's Round Of 16}

_{> Luis Suarez Suspended For 9 Games, Banned For 4 Months For Biting Incident}

Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.