Goals of the Tournament, Thus Far...

1. Robin Van Persie vs. Spain

My buddy insists this goal wasn't all that impressive, skill-wise. I couldn't disagree more. The play begins at the half line with a long ball cross to the 18 yard box. Casillas cheats out to either cut off the cross or VP's first touch. VP sees it and powers a header into the upper corner, leaving Casillas still on his feet. The play looks "simple" in some sense because VP just headed the ball along. But in addition to being simple, it was also deceptive. Spain did not expect to be attacked that way. And ask yourself how many header goals you've seen scored on a cross from midfield at around the 18? The answer is not many. This alone points to the degree of difficulty.

Additional points are given because this goal punched Spain in the gut, opened up the floodgates to the Dutch victory, and crushed the spirits of the defending champ. This goal set the tone for the tournament.

2. James vs. Uruguay

You've seen the replay. Ridiculous. James' goal against Japan was a pleasure to watch, but the stakes did not matter. The stakes were huge right here. Uruguay was all set to play a conservative, tough game  and James just destroyed their plan with a chest-to-volley. Pure individual brilliance.

3. Cahill vs. Netherlands

The left-footed volley out of the air. Class.

4. Sneijder vs. Mexico

Until that moment, Ochoa was making a case for being the player of the tournament and Concacaf was feeling plucky. And while there was sloppy marking on the play, the sheer brutality of the finish was shocking. It was like watching the Red Wedding. Couldn't you just see Sneijder pulling Ochoa aside after the game and whispering afterwards "Tywin Lannister sends his regards." Because Europe are the Lannisters of international futbol.

5. Messi vs. Iran and Jones vs. Portugal

Very similar goals -- just pure, perfect strikes from distance hooking into the corner of the net. Messi's was backbreaking to a brave Iran performance in the final minutes. The goal itself probably didn't matter - Iran was going home and Argentina was moving on regardless - but it was just a crushing moment at the end of a game. It would have been the greatest performance in the history of Iran soccer and maybe caused the mullahs to get just a little bit nervous as the streets of Tehran danced. Instead, Messi put things back into order.

Jones' goal was the type the US could not score in the past. World class skill is required to finish a shot like that in the World Cup against a European team. And we needed it. We needed the goal because we were playing better, but still needed someone to make a brilliant play to break the seal. The US can score -- on headers -- on crosses -- on shots inside the 18 -- on deflections -- but rarely do we score goals from distance or with individual brilliance. This year, we did.