Germany had us beat. There was no question about that.

They were fast and played one-touch soccer for practically the entire game last Thursday. But, when things were said and done and the score was 1-0 in Germany’s favor, I still high-fived a couple Post-Searchlight employees in celebration.

Clint Dempsey showed valiant effort. Jermaine Jones, Kyle Beckerman and DaMarcus Beasley fought hard. But Portugal is the real MVP. Their win over Ghana, a game happening simultaneously with the U.S.’s, secured us a slot in Round 16. The top two from each group move on, and those top two are the U.S. and Germany.

At the time of me writing this column, I don’t know the results of the game between the U.S. and Belgium. It will be played later this afternoon. But one thing is clear: This is the biggest game of soccer the U.S. has ever played. Regardless of what the result was, they deserve a round of applause for leading their country this far.

I’d also like to switch gears a little bit and talk about the greatest sport in the world—baseball.

The Braves are now on a five-game win streak after their 5-3 win Monday night against the New York Mets. They did an excellent job of taking advantage of opportunities when they counted, particularly in the bottom of the eighth when an error of from the Mets drove in two runs and tied the game 3-3. The Braves’ rally continued and they pushed forward for a 5-3 win.

Something is missing from the lineup, though. Catcher Evan Gattis missed his fourth straight game Monday. Apparently he has some sort of bulging disk in his spine, and he’ll have surgery sometime next week.

With Christian Bethancourt coming up to catch in the meantime, and with word that Gattis is being moved to left field, I’m interested to see what the Braves will look like for the rest of the season with a healthy lineup. Whatever happens, though, BJ Upton should be benched. Put him out of his misery.