With a well-earned place in the final eight of the 2002 World Cup, the United States soccer team has done the seemingly impossible on two counts.
First, they have broken into the elite of the soccer world.
Second, they have given people around the world another reason to hate Americans.
Regardless of the final score of their game against Germany early Friday morning, few thought either of these things were possible two weeks ago when the World Cup started.
Few people gave the United States any chance of advancing past its group stage and into the second round. When they achieved the feat, experts gave the team little credit, saying the team backed its way into the knockout phase due to a shocking 1-0 win by South Korea over Portugal.
All well and good, the United States did need the result of a Korean victory after being pummeled 3-1 by a winless Polish team. Yet few seem to note that the U.S. team was in the position to advance because they put themselves there with a brilliant 3-2 win over Portugal and a hard-fought 1-1 draw against co-host South Korea.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Simply put, the United States made it to the second round because they played second best in the group and did just enough to advance. Were they the second best team in the group on paper? No. But head coach Bruce Arena employed smart tactics, the team executed, and, most importantly, they out-hustled and out-worked their opponents.
The youth of Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, John O'Brien and Brian McBride, not to mention the stellar play of goalkeeper Brad Friedel, who has so far been the player of the tournament - saving not one, but two penalty kicks - has put the Americans in a position to advance to the semifinals. Yes, the semifinals.
The two best things that happened to the Americans in the group phase were finishing second and a freakish injury to maligned fullback Jeff Agoos. You have to feel for Agoos. He trained diligently to make the starting line-up, but he was a liability at the back and Gregg Berhalter proved to be an improvement against Mexico.
Which brings me to the other good thing about finishing second.
Had the Americans beaten Poland and finished atop their group, their second round opponent would have been Italy, a team that would have probably shown the Americans to the door. Finishing second, they drew Mexico and few gave them the chance of winning that game. But a better second round opponent could not have been tailor-made. As fellow members of the CONCACAF qualifying region, Arena knew the Mexican team better than any other opponent in the tournament. What resulted was an exceptional 2-0 win for the United States and a day of national tragedy for Mexico. The Mexican team, so bitter in defeat, refused to exchange jerseys with the Americans - a World Cup postgame tradition akin to shaking hands at mid-ice after a NHL playoff series.
That leaves the Americans to face traditional powerhouse Germany. Before the World Cup, this year's German team was regarded as second-tier to the likes of Italy, Argentina, France and Italy - all of which have been relegated to spectators. So far Germany has been steadfast defensively and clinical in finishing offensive opportunities, especially in the air.
Can the Americans muster another upset? Can Team USA force its way into soccer's upper crust to the dismay of all of Europe and South and Central America, where soccer is a religion? Based on a March warm-up in Rostock, Germany, which the United States lost 4-2, most would say no.
But I believe in the American dream. To paraphrase Hunter S. Thompson, the winner will need to have true grit. And the Americans are chock full of that, man.
Team USA will win 2-1, to meet the winner of the Spain-South Korea clash, where the unlikely dream of winning the World Cup will come to an end.
