My favorite moment of the US national team’s run at the Copa America Centenario wasn’t Clint Dempsey’s stylish opener against Ecuador or the lovely buildup that led to Bobby Wood’s excellent finish against Costa Rica, but John Brooks’ insane play to end a 1-v-3 breakout against Paraguay.
This is incredible emergency defending:
.@j_brooks25 with a tackle-and-a-half to thwart a Paraguay counterattack. #USAvPAR#MyCopaColorshttps://t.co/9NjwlecZNA
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 11, 2016
The US were totally caught out on that play. Their high-press was broken. When Fabian Johnson whiffed on his tackle near midfield, it was full-on freak-out time. Brooks erased all that, dropping deep and making up a serious amount of ground before bringing the house down with an expert slide tackle.
Check Brad Guzan’s reaction. Look at the ovation from the US bench. Listen to the 50,000-plus in the stands. They all knew that recovery run and perfectly-timed tackle weren’t just an incredible show of athleticism – they were tournament-changing. Brooks singlehandedly bailed out the USMNT with that play, preventing them from falling into an early 1-0 hole in a game that they absolutely could not lose.
More broadly, the play vaulted the 23-year-old Brooks onto a higher plane in American soccer’s collective consciousness. For me, it was the manifestation of his stardom; the moment a talented youngster turned into a player who we could all imagine anchoring the USMNT backline for the next decade.
The best part of the play, however, is that it’s been in line with the rest of Brooks’ tournament. The German-American has been one of the defenders of the Copa, looking stout against Colombia and Costa Rica before dominating Paraguay (inspiring this insane, Katy Perry-on-EDM-backed video) and Ecuador.
He’s been solid in distribution, excellent in the tackle and has generally shut down the opposition, forming a 6-foot-4 wall in the center of the US defense that opposing attackers have struggled to break down. He and Geoff Cameron have formed an excellent partnership in the middle of the USMNT defense. Together, they’re the main reason why the US has only allowed three goals all tournament, none of which have been from the run of play.
Brooks’ rise didn’t exactly come out of nowhere (he was a key part of the Hertha Berlin team that finished seventh in the Bundesliga last year and he scored a kinda important goal a couple of summers ago), but he had never really put it together like this for the USMNT heading into the Copa. He had more than his fair share of poor moments at the Gold Cup last year, and missed the March World Cup qualifiers against Guatemala due to injury.
Many of us didn’t know exactly what to expect from the big defender this summer, but he’s delivered more than anyone could’ve hoped. Brooks is showing why Bayern Munich was reportedly interested in him in January, and his play has reportedly attracted more big suitors, with Manchester City apparently now in the mix.
I’m with Matt Doyle in thinking that he should probably stick it out with Hertha, who have said they’re not interested in selling him. He's under contract in Berlin until January 2019 and has progressed with the club since turning pro in 2012, helping them win the 2. Bundesliga title in his first season as a pro, then earning time as they finished in 11th and 15th in the following two seasons before this year’s promising finish. He’ll have his first bite at European soccer in the coming campaign, as Hertha are slotted into the third-round of Europa League qualifying.
Brooks’ toughest test of the summer will, of course, come in Tuesday night’s semifinal against Argentina (9 ET; FS1, Univision, UDN). He’ll probably be tasked with making a few plays against Messi and friends that are of the same caliber as that spectacular moment against Paraguay. If he and Cameron can hold firm, the underdog US might just have a chance in Houston.
Regardless of how things go on Tuesday, Brooks has shown us all his incredible ceiling this summer. He’s already a mainstay with the USMNT. If he continues to build on his huge summer, he might just become the first American to become a regular with a big-time Champions League club, too.
If Brooks does hit those heights, I’ll remember this summer as the one he became a star.
