So you're telling me there's a chance

That's one of my favorite lines from a long list of classic Dumb and Dumber quotes.

Lloyd asks Mary the chances of "a guy like you and a girl like me... ending up together?"

Mary tells him they are one in a million. Lloyd is ecstatic.

That's how the U.S. men's soccer team and it's supporters feel on the eve of a monumental tilt with the Black Stars of Ghana.

The Yanks were given a gift when English goalie Robert Green flubbed Clint Dempsey's shot near halftime in their opening match in South Africa.

But then their luck turned. After making an epic comeback to even the score with Slovenia, drawing to 2-2 after being down a pair at intermission, Maurice Edu's game-winner was disallowed and the red, white and blue was on the brink of another early exit.

In Wednesday's third and final qualifying game the Americans had another goal waived off but didn't waiver and Landon Donovan's goal in extra time sent the U.S. through to the round of 16.

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What number 10's magical strike really did was give the U.S. new life. Staring elimination straight in the face the "cardiac kids" not only found the tally they so desperately needed but in doing so clinched the top spot in Group C and really found themselves excited about their "one in a million moment."

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The last Vegas-based odds I saw before the World Cup began had the Americans as 66-1 to hoist the golden ball. Overseas it was even higher, going off at 125-1. A Sam Bradford-led renaissance in St. Louis, where the hapless Rams win the Super Bowl next February is a 200-1 possibility at the moment.

There all parallels. Both the Rams and the U.S. would have to beat out 31 other foes and the mere mention of it brings both snickers and looks of disbelief.

But once again Donovan's goal changed everything.

Not only did the U.S. win their table by finishing with more goals than the Three Lions but they also won the lottery in terms of who they will face en route to the "Final Four."

Make no mistake, a run to the semi-finals would be very much like Butler or George Mason making it. But for the Americans the three teams they are now matched up against in the "Sweet Sixteen" that remain alive in South Africa are like an eight seed, a nine seed and a 13 seed.

To be in a foursome with Ghana, Uruguay and South Korea while world soccer powers Argentina, Germany and England are opposite them, plus rival Mexico, well, the United States simply may NEVER have this kind of opportunity to at least make the semi-finals of the planet's biggest sporting event.

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There is no getting around the fact that the U.S. team could already be back in the States. They did not play exceptionally well and could have very easily found themselves on the outside looking in but this situation is not at all new to them.

Just last summer, on South African soil and in many of the same stadium's, the Americans looked outnumbered and uninterested for their first two games before a 3-0 triumph against Egypt and a bizarre sequence of tiebreakers saw them sent through to face reigning European champion Spain.

They made the most of that opportunity knocking off the best team in the world 2-0 before taking an identical lead against the most decorated world soccer side, Brazil, in the Confederation's Cup final.

The Brazilians brilliance shone through in the second half and the Americans came up short but it was an important lesson on focusing on the task at hand and realizing that when presented with that "chance" anything is possible.

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Tomorrow's game against Ghana is that chance multiplied by one hundred. What Donovan's goal set in motion was a chain of events that could change the course of American soccer history.

The Black Stars are a young team but a determined one. They sent the red, white and blue packing four years ago with a 2-1 win to close out group play and carry the hopes of an entire continent on their back, Five African teams made this World Cup, the first ever on the continent, and they are the only one still playing on home soil.

Uruguay has looked very good so far and La Celeste has won two World Cup titles - albeit not recently - and they use an up-tempo, attacking style that could cause problems for an unsettled American back line.

South Korea is still a relative unknown to the soccer world but has nothing to lose and so much to gain having advanced to this point already. The U.S. has surprised as an underdog but often scuffled against equal or lesser opponents.

Nothing will be guaranteed against any of these teams but when the anthems are done tomorrow evening in South Africa a "one in a million chance" will be a dream much closer, and much more plausible, for the Americans to realize.