The U.S. Opened the World Cup with a thrilling 2-1 win over nemesis Ghana on John Brooks' 86th-minute goal. But Jozy Altidore, Clint Dempsey, Matt Besler and Alejandro Bedoya all got hurt to various degrees.
Altidore, taken off on a stretcher after straining his left hamstring, appears unlikely to play against the Portuguese this weekend.
"We've got to see how he now reacts the next couple days," U.S. Coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. "We're full of hope that he comes back still in this tournament."
"Woke up today, this morning, and you look at your Instagram and Twitter and you see the videos that people posted," Bedoya said of fans back home celebrating Brooks' goal. "It's really cool, and I'm sure everybody feeds off this energy."
The match drew 11.09 million viewers on ESPN, a record for men's soccer on the network. And after decades when U.S. soccer fans felt outnumbered -- even at home games -- players took notice of the raucous red, white and blue-clad crowd at Arena das Dunas in Natal.
But before the next game, the U.S. Needs to heal a little.
Captain Clint Dempsey, who set the tone when he scored 30 seconds in, had his nose broken by a shin to the face from defender John Boye when they battled for a header. Klinsmann expects him to play Sunday in the Amazon rain forest capital of Manaus.
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