USA!!! USA!! USA!!!

The picture above, of Bill Clinton with Carlos Bocanegra after the Algeria game, might be the greatest picture ever.

Internet sucks here, so I'll have to do this posting without more pictures...

USA vs. Slovenia

As you can imagine, this game was incredible. 1st half was incredibly depressing, and the 2nd half was incredibly awesome. Ellis Park, which is normally a rugby stadium and is the oldest stadium in the country, is a sweet place to watch a soccer game. There are no bad seats in it, it's pretty small, and even though we were 3 rows from the top, we still had perfect views of the entire game. Think Fenway Park, but better.

As you can imagine, there was absolute pandemonium after Bradley scored to tie the game 2-2. And then after we scored our 3rd goal, I felt like my head & body were going explode from sheer excitement. That would have been the 1st time in World Cup history that a team was down 2-0 at halftime and came back to win. So when they took the goal away, my head & body were about to explode to frustration. But after a few hours of calming down, all I could think of was a quote from a UConn soccer player after our game against them a few years ago. With a smile, he said "A point to stay alive." And that's just what we did.

USA vs. Algeria

I still have no idea how to put this game into words. We met up with some Fletcher classmates before the game in Pretoria for some drinks, and then headed to the stadium. Loftus Versfeld is similar to Ellis Park, and was a great place to watch a game...small, with a rocking crowd. And on the way to our friend's apartment, we saw the USA team bus drive right by. I saw Landon Donovan, looking completely focused and ready for action. What was even better was that our seats were in the 1st row of the upper level, so we had amazing views of the game. And while I was getting my head painted before the game, I was interviewed by NBC news and made it on the evening news:

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So the game got more and more tense as time ran down...we missed chance after chance, and it started to get serious. Since were were in the front row and there was a walkway in front of our seats, so in the 75th minute I took my USA flag off and held it up and sprinted back & forth in front of the upper level to get the crowd going. We had to keep believing, and I had to do what I could. It was much for me & to get rid of some nervous energy as it was to get the crowd going.

So when we finally scored that goal, the crowd ERUPTED louder and with more energy than anything I've ever experienced before. The group I was this immediately formed a group bear hug, with some spraying beer into the air. After a second or 2 of this, I started to freak out because I knew we already had 2 legitimate goals taken away in this tournament, and I needed to see the field to see if this goal was also being called off. And when I saw it wasn't, that's when the complete awesomeness of the situation hit me.

After the game, all the US fans stayed in the stadium for probably 20 minutes, cheering on the team, and then the party continued outside the stadium for another 20 minutes, with "USA" chants, group singings of the "Star-Spangled Banner" and chants of "We are top of the group say we are top of the group hey hey!" I wish everyone who is reading this right now could have been there to experience such an incredible night...