Mueller: Restoring my soccer spirit

Published 10:33 pm Thursday, June 24, 2010

By AARON MUELLER

It hasn’t been done since 1930, but when Landon Donovan struck the ball past the Algerian goalkeeper with a name I can’t spell much less pronounce in Wednesday’s final match of group play, the United States national soccer team finished first in its group in the World Cup.

This is no small accomplishment for the Yanks, considering the team hasn’t won a match in World Cup play since 2002 and hasn’t finished at the top of its group since the first World Cup 80 years ago. The team will advance to play Ghana in the knockout round in a pretty favorable bracket, meaning this team has the potential to do something special.

But if words like “pitch,” “equalizer,” “nil,” and “touchline” are foreign to you, you probably are like millions of other Americans who just don’t care. And to be honest, I probably wouldn’t have cared much either if I hadn’t turned on the TV for the Americans’ first match against England.

That match recaptured my interest, albeit still pretty faint, in the most popular sport in the world. But after watching the next two U.S. matches, I haven’t been this excited about soccer since I played for the winless black and red team in a youth league in fifth grade.

I still remember the way the Americans broke my heart in the 1998 World Cup when they lost to Iran 2-1 in the second match of the Cup, ending its run very early. I sat in my shiny black uniform, red shorts and cleats on my living room coach embarrassed that my home country had given Iran its first ever World Cup win.

And that ended my brief love affair with soccer. I stopped playing and refused to watch the next two World Cups.

But when I flipped on the England match and saw the incredibly soft goal that earned the Americans a 1-1 tie, I knew it was either destiny or dumb luck. Then I witnessed the team storm back from a two-goal halftime deficit to Slovenia to earn a tie and caught wind of Donovan’s strike heard round the world Tuesday. And I realized this U.S. team is truly different than past squads.

Even a soccer neophyte, who thinks when Ronaldo takes a dive he is actually injured, can tell that the team has chemistry and heart.

Despite a couple controversial calls going against them, including a goal overturned that would have earned them a win against Slovenia, the Yanks have been resilient.

Donovan may have said it best after scoring the game-winner against Algeria.

“This team embodies what the American spirit is about,” he said. “We had a goal disallowed the other night. We had another goal disallowed tonight, but we just kept going. And I’m damn proud.”

And after watching the Yanks gut out the win, finally so am I.