So it was my
first World Cup. It is June, 2002 and the last US World Cup effort was an embarrassment.
Not an embarrassment like the disappointment of 2006 where we were better than
we showed, but worst team in the tournament, lost to Iran embarrassment.
And now we
were on our way to play the Golden Generation of Portugal. Luis Figo of Real
Madrid fame, and the like.
So what
expectations did I have?
Then again,
I was AT THE WORLD CUP! And I was wearing my heart on my sleeve no matter what,
standing in Sam’s Army, surrounded by like-minded supporters – some of which I
knew, some not, but all brothers and sisters in arms and we were going to give
it our all.
Thing was,
the group I was going with had a few people in tenuous contact with the team
itself, and word the morning of the match was shocking – no Claudio Reyna, no
Clint Mathis. So for comparison, no Bradley, no Altidore. Going against a dark
horse to win it all. I think they were ranked No. 4 in the world at the time.
Gulp!
But then
again, then as now, the US wasn’t a feared juggernaut, so we were going to be
underdogs to begin with. So either way, it was going to be a gut-check time no
matter which way you sliced it. The advantage, though, was of those who stood
and cheered for the USA, a very large majority of us were here, in-country. The
percentage of supporters who didn’t make the trip is never what you want, but
there weren’t the hangers-on, the johnny-come-latelys (because they didn’t
really exist just yet).
This is a
band of brothers/sisters that had deep belief in the team and each other, borne
from a long, treacherous qualifying campaign and supporting the US in the sport
of soccer.
As we are in
transit to Korea, we see Saudi Arabia get killed by Germany. Ouch. As we are
one of the last groups to play, it seems everyone is breaking the nervousness
with their first match and it just pours on the pressure on us.
Getting on
the bus to the stadium, I have “One Little Victory” by Rush in my ear. “A
certain measure of innocence – a willingness to appear naïve. A certain degree
of imagination, a measure of make-believe.” Why not us? Why not now?
And that has
been the general mindset of US supporters anyway – “Figo who?” and “We’d rather
have Clint Mathis than Figo” chants, and others like it, were all over the
place. Of course, a lot of it was hopeful/dreaming/throw-caution-to-the-wind
and maybe even tongue in cheek, but there was a true kernel of belief
underlying it all. After all, we beat England at Belo Horizonte back in the
day, we beat Colombia in ’94 – anything can happen.
The thing of
it was, though, I truly, deeply, terribly believed that US soccer would one day
explode with an amazing result and shock the world – probably more than I
believed in anything else in the material world.
I just didn’t
think that I’d be 20 rows from it when it happened, and that was going to
happen on June 5, 2002 in Suwon, Korea.
The nervous
energy is flowing now as we enter the stadium. I am kicking myself for not
bringing a drum as I was used to doing for Dallas Burn matches. But we’re with others that we know – some from
Dallas, some from other US games we’ve met at qualifiers and friendlies – and the
camaraderie is strong.
The national
anthem, the unfurling of the Flag of Greatness. We’re all on our feet, singing
at the top of our lungs.
But still,
any hope is the hope of blind faith. But that ember is still there, waiting,
burning quietly.
Wait, what?
Landon Donovan, the wonderkid, is starting? Bruce Arena had been feeding him
minutes and everyone could see he had talent, but is he really ready to START?
Against PORTUGAL? And DeMarcus Beasley? Really? The beginnings of my faith in
coaches starts here, by the way. More later.
The game
starts. We’re pressing high, Portugal is responding well early. The back and
forth is crazy. We’re talking the first moments of the match – most of which is
played in our defensive half.
And then it
happens. The series begins with a foul on McBride (contrary to Bruce Arena’s “First
foul, first shot, first goal” speech) for a free kick in the middle of the
field. A shot in by Earnie Stewart is touched out of bounds for a corner, right
in front of the US supporters section.
Earnie puts
the ball down for the corner with emphasis – using both hands, with determination.
It seemed a little melodramatic at the time, but then again, it was very much a
“let’s do this” feeling at the moment.
The corner
comes in – McBride fights off a player to get a header towards goal and the
initial anticipation wanes just a moment, but the ball isn’t clear – the heart
is still high in the throat. A save is made, but not controlled – where is the
bounce going to go?!?!?!?
And then,
John O’Brien takes the clearest, cleanest, most important finish of his career,
and we explode!
Not only are
we in the game, but we are LEADING! In the FOURTH MINUTE! Wow, it is early, so
it is going to be a LONG game, but better to lead than not, eh? If we were
pouring everything we had into the game before, now we are searching for our deepest
part of the well because the ember has some oxygen to burn – we really do have
a chance to get a result!
The next 25
minutes are back and forth, with Portugal trying to get back in it. It isn’t
crazed just yet because we really do have a lot of game to play. But the
pressure is building with every moment they don’t score. The chances keep
coming for the US, including a chance by Eddie Pope that goes just wide.
And then the
craziness takes another, more serious turn.
That same
Landon Donovan plays the ball in from the US right side, and it is a mess at
the back – an OWN GOAL! The US has scored again!?!?!?!?
I can’t
breath, I have lost my voice, I can barely see straight – we really, actually,
could WIN! The craziness, the frenzy in the section is fantastic now.
Then again,
there still is 60 minutes of soccer to play. That is a LOT of time – lots can
happen in that time. No way we can take the foot off the gas now.
A scary
moment – Beto goes into the US penalty area, and the whistle blows. Wait, what?
What is going on? It is in the other end of the field, hard to see. But
Portugal is walking away from the goal with their heads down, and Beto is shown
a yellow. Simulation. Wow – big call there….
And then
before we can really wrap our heads around that, Tony Sanneh – who? Yeah, Tony
Sanneh gets free along the right side of the US attack, and he plays in a gorgeous
ball that Brian McBride cleanly, elegantly slams home with a diving header –
after splitting two Portugal defenders. It is the 36th minute and
the US is beating Portugal 3-0!?!?!?!?!?
I truly,
deeply lose my mind at this point. I am
running up and down the stairs in amazement. I mean, not only the goals, but
the glory and beauty of that last goal is just overwhelming.
As I get to
the top of the section (and of 50+ rows, I was around row 20 to start with – so
you get how out of my mind I was), I run into a friend of mine from Dallas that
I didn’t know was making the trip. That clinched it – this was too good to be
true, yet here we were. He was my reality check that this wasn’t a dream.
Oh.
My.Goodness.
And by the
time I got to my seat, I had gained enough composure to realize that our work
had just begun. Now we were going to have to be the support, the belief that
the team could finish this off. The heaving lifting had begun.
And it was
soon after that moment that Beto finally did get on the scoreboard, finishing a
bit of a mess in front of goal that put the score at 3-1. They had their goal
and now some belief of their own.
Halftime. A
chance to regroup. Beto’s goal made it all the more dangerous of a second half,
so the challenge was clear. A little bit of celebration, but mostly it was “we
have a LONG way to go, and now it is real work, serious work, work that
matters.” This wasn’t an intellectual exercise, no longer child’s-play, a fun
little dream to play with in our mind. This is a real chance to DO SOMETHING.
The second
half, really, is a blur of blind support. Frankly, the own goal by Agoos didn’t
even register – we were nervous about the way the game was going to go from the
beginning of the second half, and that goal only gave a tangible feel to the
pit in our stomach. The thing of it was, it was late enough that we did feel
like it was do-able.
As the
minutes ticked by, and the night got darker and darker, the belief was building
as they missed chance after chance.
And then, it
was over – the game was won! The lack of belief was still in the air, but the
reality sunk in moment by moment as the celebrations ramped up – we had done
it!
And in the
stands, it was a sense of accomplishment like you wouldn’t believe. Here we
were, halfway around the world, and the puny US soccer team not only had
shocked the great Portuguese, but they had done so with thousands in the stands
cheering them on – well. It was true, blue football support, recognizable anywhere
in the world for what it was. When our team needed a voice in the stands, they
had it in their most important hour.
The rest of
the tournament was to come, but now it was a completely different tournament
than the one we feared – now it was one of “how far can we go?” We weren’t the
worst team in France anymore – now we were the team that felled the mighty
Portuguese, with host Korea and a quality (but recently defeated) Poland to go.
Certainly the Portuguese were now going to win out – they had to. So if we can
get ties the rest of the way, a very doable goal, we just might advance!
But so much
soccer was to happen before we really could think about that. The thought of
facing 80,000 screaming Koreans (and boy, it absolutely was that) was sobering
enough, but for the most part, tonight was a night to celebrate. We will think about
the Koreans tomorrow – tonight, we had slayed the dragon and we had done so in
impressive fashion. It was the emergence of a true soccer nation – and the
culmination of the dream that began when the US was awarded the 1994 World Cup,
through the embarrassment of that tournament that the team advanced, but we had
no real supporters culture to speak of, to now standing tall in a foreign land,
against one of the world’s footballing giants, and come out victorious.
I leave you
with a link of the youtube highlights from that match, and a tease that the
story of the match against Korea is around the corner.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rX1bbTaJ40
