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.
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.
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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