Rarely in life does one get a chance to completely reverse a terrible mistake or set of events that you wish with all your might that you could do over. Even if that rare chance arrives, sometimes the wait is years in the making. However, in this World Cup on Thursday, the USMNT has one rare, singular, precious opportunity to set things right and put the last minute Portugal collapse behind us. Yes, on Sunday the US failed late against one of the top teams in the world. That is now the past. Going forward, what better than a chance just 4 days later to correct the possible nightmare outcome of that failing (Ghana knocking us out, again)? And doing it against an even better, superior German side would be a full, no-qualifiers answer to Sunday’s letdown. I, like every other US fan and player, was completely devastated by the last 30 seconds on Sunday. But for now put aside the shock, despair, anger, numbness or anything else from the last game – there is plenty of time for that in the long march of years after the World Cup. Right now though, we have a chance at something more than just the Round of 16 – we have a chance at redemption. A chance to reduce yesterday into an interesting footnote in our soccer history – and reversing it from its present course of being a monument of pain for decades to come. Cheer in hopes of seeing a Bradley equalizer, or a Cameron goal line clearance that salvages the draw – a redemption on a personal level. Or cheer for every US player that will fight to redeem the heartbreaking mistakes of their brethren in the last game – a redemption on a collective level. We are all one team, one nation. As a fan, I go into Thursday with a mixture of dread, fear, and hope. But I also go in with a most powerful, positive motivator – a chance to see our US team set things right. Join me in cheering for their success. GO, GO, USA!!!
I like you. Did Jermaine Jones give up when Portugal went up early? Did Dempsey give up when he got his nose broken? The ******** man....this comes along every 4 years. I am not going to spend the next four days writing us off when the fact of the matter is we always play better as the underdogs. Bring on ze Germans
I have no doubt that we will advance to the round of 16. The only thing I'm not sure of is if we'll advance as Group G winners or runners up.
Amen. After the Confederations Cup in 2009 we had to wait an entire year after letting Brazil off the hook. I had never felt so sick in my life. Not quite the same position but we let a world power off the hook again. Days wait this time. A mere 4 days wait.