Portugal's 4-0 Meltdown Against Germany Was The Best Possible Result For The US

Coming into the game, the U.S. was hoping for a blowout from Germany. They got that and more.

Here are all the good things about the Portugal-Germany game for the U.S.:

• Portugal now has a goal difference of -4. If the U.S. and Portugal end up tied in points, goal difference is the tiebreaker. The U.S. will now, in all likelihood, win that tiebreaker as long as they don't get killed by Germany.
• Pepe, Portugal's best defender, got a red card. He will miss the game against the U.S. next Sunday after getting an insane red card.
• Fabio Coentrao, Portugal's second best defender, got hurt. He hobbled off the field and is a doubt for the U.S. game.
• Hugo Almeida, Portugal's starting center forward, got hurt. He came off in the 28th minute and is a doubt for the U.S. game.

Portugal ruined their goal difference and may have lost three of their best players.

If you told U.S. fans that this would happen in Germany-Portugal, they wouldn't have believed you.

The most realistic path for the U.S. to get out of the group is if Germany wins all its games, the U.S. goes 1-1-1 and advances on goal difference. The Germany-Portugal result made that scenario much more likely.