Dream told John Brooks he would score USA winner against Ghana The story was almost too good to be true. John Brooks, a 21-year-old centre-back who had never played in an official game for the USA, coming off the bench to score an 86th-minute winner in their World Cup opener against Ghana on Monday night. So improbable was it all that ESPN’s commentator, Ian Darke, promptly exclaimed: “He couldn’t even have dreamt it”.
Except, Brooks had done exactly that. Two days earlier, to be precise.