It's been 16 years since the U.S. men's soccer team played a game this big.
Sure they have gone up against better opponents and even played games with more on the line but in just under nine hours their opening match of the 2010 World Cup against England will top all of them from the past decade and a half.
On July 4th, 1994 in the round of 16 the upstart Americans fought valiantly before falling 1-0 to Brazil on the Stanford Stadium pitch.
It was Independence Day and the United States was hosting the World Cup for the first (and only) time. Soccer fever was running rampant across the nation that summer and the U.S. was on the brink of something truly spectacular.
Add in the most decorated side the world has seen and you had a script that frankly seemed too far-fetched even for a feel-good sports flick.
But the Brazilians with all their flair and skill squeaked past the Yanks on their way to World Cup royalty at the Rose Bowl nearly two weeks later.
America had been captivated for almost a month.
Fascinated with the millions of fans from the world over, so fervent and enthusiastic. Mesmerized by the beautiful game being played out so eloquently right in front of their eyes and in their own back yard.
They were stunned by the news of Columbian Andres Escobar's death just days after his own goal was the difference in an American opening round win.
Sure many Red Sox fans had probably dreamt about hunting down Bill Buckner eight years before but he was still kicking.
Americans were faced with a stark reality. What they were witnessing was much more than just a game to everyone else.
By the time Brazil was victorious, baseball, the national pastime, was less than a month away from a labor strike that would see the first fall come and go without a World Series in 90 years.
But even without baseball the NFL was growing in popularity. Hockey was a major sport in the North American psyche. Michael Jordan was off playing baseball between his three-peats. None of it mattered.
If you roll all of that into one, all of that passion and excitement then you can really only truly begin to understand what soccer means on the global stage.
In 1994, Americans saw that for the first time and the confluence of events that brought that Brazil/USA match together meant it could mean something in the states too but the red, white and blue fell tantalizingly short.
The women's national team gained notoriety by winning it all and Major League Soccer has managed to stay afloat since its inception in 1993 on the eve of the World Cup.
But despite millions of kids playing soccer all over the country from pro leagues to AYSO, the sport still takes a major back seat to many other athletic endeavors in the U.S.
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But an opening round game that pits an eager American side against Mother England provides exactly the type of dramatic recipe and anticipation that makes it once again - for the first time in 16 years - capable of reaching far beyond the white lines.
60 years ago this month the U.S. pulled off the Miracle on Grass beating the Brits 1-0 in the 1950 World Cup despite being as big as 500-1 underdogs. (To put 500-1 odds in perspective, England beating the U.S. 8-0 is going off at 500-1. Most sportsbook's simply won't go any higher than that since the risk simply outweighs the reward.)
30 years later was the Miracle on Ice at Lake Placid where the U.S. Olympic hockey team defeated the Soviet Union.
Earlier this year the national pride swelled when the U.S. hockey team upended the Canadian's on their home ice, but fell short in a repeat attempt with the gold medal on the line.
The stakes simply aren't that high. Both teams should advance out of group play and into the elimination stages but beating England has been something Americans have prided themselves on since they tossed tea into the Boston Harbor more than two centuries ago.
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American soccer is one of the true places where we can still relish the underdog role. We've been to the top of the mountain in nearly every sport but we've barely begun to scale the pinnacle of football glory.
The Sons of Sam took a few sizable steps last summer. After falling flat in their first two games of the Confederation's Cup they managed to beat Egypt in their last match of the group stage and advance due to some bizzare tiebreaking procedures.
But I'll never forget the feeling of disbelief in the Venetian sportsbook during the shocker that followed as the U.S. soundly beat Spain, the number one team in the World, to advance to the finals against Brazil.
And I'll always remember the euphoria when Clint Dempsey put the Americans ahead 1-0 after 10 minutes and the hysteria when Landon Donovan netted another 17 minutes later to push the lead to two goals.
I have this distorted video that plays in my mind after Donovan's ball tickled the twine where at least sixty people crowded into a small, dark Costa Mesa pub leap to their feet in unison as if the ground had suddenly swelled from under them.
I'm convinced that I jumped at least four feet into the air. I felt like I wasn't coming down.
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I did come down, and what a crash it was. After gliding into the locker room still two goals clear of the mighty Brazilians and faced with the ridiculous reality that yes, in fact, the U.S. could win after such a horrific start in South Africa, the whistle blew for the final forty-five and Fabiano struck fear into our hearts.
Less than a minute after the intermission it was 2-1. And the whirlwind of yellow speed and skill simply ensued from there. When the dust settled Fabiano had tallied another, Lucio had scored the winner and the South American champions had certainly been slighted on another shot that clearly crossed the U.S. goal line.
It was a stunning defeat in the sense that for an hour or so what had seemed so probable fantastically felt in great doubt. But in the end the better team won, but with that match and the brilliant defeat of the European champion Spaniards squarely in the Americans rear view mirror, a return trip to South Africa in a year definitely felt like a tremendous opportunity.
Despite some treacherous spots in CONCACAF qualifying and a series of injuries to significant players the U.S. side finally stands on the precipice of possibility.
ESPN's slogan for this tournament is: "One game changes everything." A win does little to bolster the American's chances of actually winning the World Cup, something that seems still out of reach even for the biggest of dreamer's but it could rally the country like never before and push this team closer to raising that gold statue than ever in history and that's not something to belittle.
Only eight hours until kickoff now, the excitement is reaching unprecedented levels.
Enjoy the game, it's been 16 years since they've had one of this magnitude, maybe this time they can continue the trend of upending the Brits.
It's the most patriotic thing they can do, long live the red, white and blue!
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