The U.S. has a new sports god. And any American who saw a gutsy yet outmatched U.S. men's football team fall 1-2 to Belgium in the FIFA 2014 World Cup knows this man is goalkeeper Tim Howard.

His never before seen heroics in defending the U.S. goal from a deluge of Belgian assaults have earned him tremendous worldwide praise and a plethora of titles.

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The 6 foot 3 inch tall Howard made a record 16 saves, the most by a goalkeeper at the World Cup since statistics were first tracked by FIFA in 1966.

In this World Cup match that lasted 120 minutes, the relentless Belgians punched through the U.S. defense again and again, producing 38 shots, 27 of them on goal, probably a record for offensive attempts.

"I will never forget this night," Howard said.

The 35-year-old giant with the full beard has been praised as The Man of the Match, the Best Goalkeeper in the World, The Secretary of Defense and, according to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, the Most Valuable Player in the World Cup.

"Tim played tonight just phenomenal, outstanding," said U.S. coach Juergen Klinsmann. "This was definitely an amazing goalkeeper performance."

Howard deserves these accolades for his magnificent goal line stand against a clearly superior Belgian team.

But lost in the glow of Howard's epic defense is an overlooked backstory: the U.S. team was terrible against the Belgians.

How best to explain Howard's 16 saves and Belgium's 38 shots other than an epic U.S. fail. The U.S. displayed the same kind of flabby and almost clueless football that was its hallmark pre-Klinsmann.

Team USA's defense was porous; it offense bewildered. And in what appears to be its trademark, the Americans seemed to rely on Lady Luck to deliver its goals.

Without Howard, the U.S. team would probably have suffered a loss worse than the worst in World Cup history: El Salvador's 1-10 defeat to Hungary in the 1982 World Cup in Spain.

Thankfully, the Americans never sank into this pit of futility thanks to Howard.

This perception was not lost on netizens. One American tweeted: "Difference between Tim Howard and Jesus -- Jesus had 11 guys he could trust."

U.S. coach Juergen Klinsmann has a lot of rebuilding to do until the next World Cup in Russia in 2018. His contract ensures that he'll be the man calling the shots in 2018.

But Klinsmann might enter this fight without Howard. The super goalkeeper will be 39 years old in 2018. He'll be too old to be any good.

TagsWorld Cup 2014, Belgium, Tim Howard, goalkeeper