The match didn’t go to penalty shootouts. Two goals in the first period of extra-time by Belgium ensured it wouldn’t. But had the US sneaked in one more in the second period to make it a contest between two goalkeepers, one would have been foolish not to have put one’s money on Tim Howard.

Not because USA’s Howard is any better than Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois. No, absolutely not. Howard, 35, is 12 years older than Courtois, 22, a tenth of a metre shorter than his Belgian counterpart and is paid roughly £60,000-a-week less at Everton than the on-loan Chelsea goalkeeper is at Atletico Madrid. Also, Courtois has never lost a match when standing in goal for Belgium.

Yet, had the game at Salvador’s Arena Fonte Nova proceeded to a stand-off situation between him and the bald-and-bearded American, Courtois could just have tasted his first bitter pill of defeat.

Why? Because, for 120 minutes, Howard had been put through the rigours of a two-hour long penalty shoot-out in the first place. And he had come out on tops, all the while arranging his non-existent defence and all the while focusing on not one but a herd of penalty-takers settled deep in his territory.

In all, the man from New Jersey saved 27 shots on goal. Sixteen of those could have given Belgium the lead, if not hexadecapoled it. But there Howard was, one man against 10, ‘saving like Jesus’ (as one banner read) and all but given the post of his country’s Secretary of Defence (as the Wikipedia page soon would read).

“Two words. TIM HOWARD #respect,” Belgium captain Vincent Kompany tweeted later, summing up what he and 51,000 other spectators — and millions of viewers — witnessed on Tuesday: one of the finest displays of goalkeeping in World Cup history. Howard wasn’t just USA’s last line of defence; he was the defence itself. Alas, against a potent Belgian side, that wasn’t enough.

Early indication

Apart from the goalkeeper, 10 other Americans were fielded by manager Jurgen Klinsmann to take on Belgium on a sticky Salvador evening in the final Round of 16 contest. But as early as the first minute (37th second to be more accurate), those 10 men could do little to prevent Divock Origi — the 19-year-old who made it to the starting eleven instead of Romelu Lukaku — from taking his first pot at goal.

Propelled ahead with a glorious Kevin De Bruyne through ball, young Origi set the tone for the rest of the match by hurtling towards a sliding Howard, who kept the score at 0-0 with a finger-tip save. But up against one of the most daunting set of midfielders (Wolfsburg’s De Bruyne, Napoli’s Dries Mertens, Manchester United’s Marouane Fellaini, Everton’s Kevin Mirallas and Chelsea’s Eden Hazard) on show here in Brazil, the 35-year old put every possible body part to saving use — shins, thighs, toes, elbows, shoulders and even his neck on one instance.

By the end of the gruelling first half, where Belgium had eight shots of target in nine attempts, Howard had left his soul on the field.

At the other end USA, who had so far won fans over with their attacking style of play, brought Courtois into the game for the first time as late as the 21st minute. This, of course, occurred after Howard blocked defender Jan Vertonghen’s near-post attempt with his fists, ricocheting the ball to Clint Dempsey. The USA captain broke free easily (considering most of the men in Belgium’s red were buzzing around Howard’s ears) and set Michael Bradley goalward. Daisy fresh, an able Courtois was up to the task.

Such breaks of play were commonplace for Belgium in the second half, once Howard’s Everton mate Mirallas showed up with a set of breezy legs. On one occasion, the sharp Mirallas leapt with the ball between his feet over DaMarcus Beasley and clipped it left to Vertonghen, who missed a long-ranger by inches.

Howard roared with satisfaction. Not just because he didn’t have to put his tormented body on the line, but mainly due to the fact that he had a desperate Belgium frustrated. Frustration also forced Belgium to make their first collective defensive error in the 92nd minute. And USA could have put an end to the lopsided game right there.

Of all the defenders, it was Kompany who lost the ball in the midfield, and USA did a Belgium by growling ahead as one. By the time Daniel Van Buyten was dribbled past, USA’s Alejando Bedoya and Chris Wondolowski were two-on-one with the ‘keeper. Inside the box, Bedoya tapped it left to Wondolowski, who will live to curse the moment he powered it over the crossbar from the shortest of ranges. Here, USA perhaps knew that it was over.

The breakthrough

It nearly was when Lukaku — brought on for Origi at the end of regulation time — shirked off a tired USA defence with ease just three minutes into extra time and passed the ball to De Bruyne. Blindsided by his defender Matt Besler, Howard could do little but hear the death rattle of his net. His fortress was impinged once more when De Bruyne returned the favour by setting a still-fresh and very hungry Lukaku free on goal, who thumped the ball past the ‘keeper’s near-post grasp.

Howard had finally been conquered. “It will take a nation of millions to hold me back,” he had once written as a child, in his North Brunswick High yearbook.

Belgium has a population of 11.7 million, most of whom seemed to be crowded inside Howard’s six-yard box. And for a while there, it was he who nearly held them all back.