Belgium’s Vincent Kompany Gives Huge Shout-Out to U.S. Goalie Tim Howard

Vincent Kompany, the captain of Belgium’s national men’s soccer team, made a classy move by praising the extraordinary performance of American goalkeeper Tim Howard following Team USA’s valiant 2-1 defeat in the last 16 of the World Cup.

Respect is right. Howard kept America’s bleak quarterfinal hopes alive after making a record 16 saves, the most by a goalkeeper at the World Cup since stats were first tracked by officials in 1966.

Kompany’s praise was, naturally, flanked by American support for their most valuable player. One fan even changed the Wikipedia entry for the U.S. Secretary of Defense to America’s favorite brick wall.

Others took to Twitter to honor one of — if not, the best — goalkeeper in U.S. history.