John Brooks: USA defender dreamt he would score winner against Ghana... and becomes the 'greatest American since Abraham Lincoln'

Youngster won the game with a header in the dying moments

American defender John Brooks said he dreamt he'd score the winner against Ghana (Getty Images)

For many, scoring the winning goal in the dying minutes of a World Cup match is a thing of dreams, for others, that dream can quite literally translate onto the pitch.

In the Group G match between USA and Ghana, 21 year old American-German born John Brooks headed in the winning goal in the 86 minute to give his side a 2-1 victory over Ghana.

Unknown to American supporters around world, they needn’t have been concerned by Ghana’s equalizer as Brooks had first beaten the Black Stars only two nights earlier, in a dream.

"Yeah, it’s unbelievable," said Brooks after the game. "I said I had a dream, I told some team-mates that I dreamed that I had scored in the 80th minute and we won the game. Now it [turned out to be] the 86th minute and we won the game, so that was good."

As a substitute Not only did Brooks foresee he would be get his chance to come on, but the defender also predicted he would head in the ball from a corner.

Brooks’ only mistake however was that he was six minutes later in grabbing the winner, something fans are no doubt willing to let slide.

"This was the first dream like that I’ve had," Brooks added. "Hopefully it is not the last."

The late goal prompted an internet prankster to take to Wikipedia and change his biography.

The introduction proclaimed Brooks to be 'the greatest American' since President Abraham Lincoln. The changes were later removed