Two matches hold a special place in my heart: 2005 - Gold Cup Semifinal - Honduras - Giants Stadium - NJ My first ever USMNT game. A loud, boisterous crowd at Giants Stadium with American fans outnumbered 25 to 1. The Hondos scored early and probably deserved to win the match. John O'Brien scored (might have been his last goal as a member of the USMNT) with less than 10 minutes left to level the game at 1. And then if second half stoppage time, a 35-40 yard free kick from the right handside by Landon Donovan is met by a forocious header by Oguchi Onyewu... Game, Set, Match. I never heard a stadium go that silent that quickly. Unbelievable finish. 2007 - Under 20 World Cup - Poland - Olympic Stadium - Montreal First ever road trip for a USMNT game. A few days prior there was a group of about 50 US fans (mostly from the Northeast), who pre-game, subway march, and sang the USA to a 1-1 tie against South Korea. The Poland game was a must win for the US to have a chance to advance. What transpired was a legendary performance by Freddy Adu. The Poles struck quick and were up 1-0 within 15 minutes. However, the US dominated the final 75 minutes winning 6-1. Freddy finished with a hat trick as the Americans put on the most dominant performance I have ever seen in a FIFA tournament.
I have a total of six caps: First cap: La Guerra Fria, 2/28/01--Thanks to the Ohio weather gods for the Wisconsin welcome! Next cap: USA v Honduras, 9/01--probably more memorable for what happened a week and a bit later than for the horrible play and the mostly-Honduran crowd. Friendly v Paraguay, July '03: another dos a cero, this time against a different team (and Paraguay were Chilavert-less by now--I think I wanted to go just to see Chilavert). Grenada, 6/05--Beasley! USA-Mexico, 9/05--Dos a cero, and qualified first, and for some of the best photos I've ever taken. USA-Mexico, 2/11/09--Rain, hail, wind, puddles in my boots, wet jeans, and a lost banner, but dos a cero, otra vez. All but one have been in Columbus. I have one USWNT cap, World Cup vs North Korea in '03, also in Columbus.
You are right, my friend...that was June of 2004!! Boy, so many WC caps...I'm SOOO envious & hope we get the 2018 WC, since I can't make it to South Africa or, most likely, Brazil in 2014!!
my personal faves: usa 3:2 portugal wc2002 usa 1:1 italy wc2006 but really, just about any game where you can get into the supporters section can be awesome.
Yeah, it's a typo on my part. Will fix--thanks! --except that it won't let me edit that post now. Oh, well. Y'all know what I meant.
I wasn't there! For different reasons, I've only been able to make one of the three WCQ vs. Mexico at Columbus ('05). Agreed. Great stuff. But for one split-second lapse, we'd have escaped with an (undeserved) point.
I can name any number, but the U.S. vs. Italy WC Finals match in Kaiserslautern was pretty damn cool.
Out of all the matches I have attended; my most memorable USMNT match has to be the USA v Italy match in Germany WC 2006. The atmosphere before, during, and after the match was so amazing I will never forget it.
You know what I remember most? Cutout Keller made a reappearance at that game after 8-10 years of being AWOL. Actually it was only the top half of cutout Keller. It was with a crowd that involved some DC staffers. Cutout Keller and I at the tailgate before (I think) the USA/Jamaica 1997 game, possibly the USA/Guatemala 2000 or USA/Argentina 1999 game.
My favorite games that I have went to 1) USA vs. Italy 1-1 2002 World Cup 2) USA vs. Brazil 2 1-0 2007 U20 World Cup 3) USA vs. Mexico 2-0 2005 World Cup Qualifying 4) USA vs. Mexico 2-0 2009 World Cup Qualifying 5) USA vs. England 2-0 1993 US Cup Just off the top of my head
Only been to a couple but they were great. 1) USA 1 Italy 1 WC 2006 Kaiserslauten. Wow. 2) USA 1 Mexico 0 circa 2004 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Won at the death. Jubilation for the few.
So your top 5 matches include 3 draws, 1 loss, and a 1-0 win over T&T. That's too bad man. You must have had a great time at that pre-game against T&T because Twellman didn't score. McBride scored... Twellman had a goal called back on a total BS offsides call.
We did have a pretty memorable (for those who can remember it) time at the pre-match bar before that one. Classic case of a bunch of people flying in early in the day (or locals taking the whole day off) and having too long to drink before the game.
We must have 30+ caps, but these are the highlights: 5: February 11, 2009, USA v Mexico, 2-0 (rain, gale winds, hail, pre and post at Claddaghs, and, oh yeah, dos e cero!) 4: February 28, 2001, USA v Mexico W 2-0 (La Guerra Fria, Part 1-Crew Stadium) 3: Spring 2005, USA v Mexico (Azteca, Mexico City)--we lost, but being there with 100,000 screaming fans (about 250 USA fans) was pretty astounding 2: September 5, 2005, USA v Mexico W 2-0 (Crew Stadium, Supporters Section), with about 12 family/friends; tailgate, marching into stadium. 1. June 17, 2006, USA v Italy, K-town WC 2006 1-1, but that says nothing about the intensity of the game and being with 30-40,000 US fans going crazy.
I've got probably a couple dozen USMNT "caps" through the years, with these ones being most memorable in more or less this order: 1.) (tie) USA 2 - Mexico 0 09/2005 WC Qualifier, Columbus USA 2 - Mexico 0 02/2001 WC Qualifier, Columbus USA 2 - Mexico 0 02/2009 WC Qualifier, Columbus (a pattern is emerging here...) 2.) USA 4 - Mexico 0 06/1995 US Cup, DC 3.) USA 1 - Switzerland 1 06/1994 World Cup, Detroit (great Wynalda goal) 4.) USA 2 - Mexico 1 06/2007 Gold Cup Final, Chicago (7-year old son chanting "They're not Mexi-CANs, they're Mexi-CANT's, 'cause they can't beat us!!" on the way into the stadium) 5.) USA 2 - Guatemala 0 03/2005 WC Qualifier, Birmingham 6.) USA 2 - Brazil 4 09/2007 Friendly, Chicago 7.) USA 6 - Cuba 1 10/2008 WC Qualifier, DC (Props to the DC Hosts: BEST PRE-GAME TAILGATE EVAR-R-R) 8.) USA 3 - Grenada 0 06/2004 WC Qualifier, Columbus (Son's 1st "cap") 9.) USA 1 - T&T 0 08/2005 WC Qualifier, East Hartford
Did you ride on the south shore line on the way to the game? because I'm pretty sure I met you there. yeah, that was amazing. First time I'd had Bells beer since moving from Michigan.
That was definitely us. Me and a friend rode the train in with my son. A couple of 40-year old Caucasian guys and an adopted Korean 7 year old. We fit in just as well with the gay pride parade crowd on the train as with the soccer crowd... Are you taking the same route in for the Honduras match? My friend and his wife have a wedding that weekend, so they cant make it. I'll be there with my boy (couldn't talk the wife and daughter into making the trip after telling her about the beer shower we got after the end of the Gold Cup final). Did you get any of the Jamaican meat pies at the DC tailgate before they were gone? Thinking about a return trip in October for the WC qualifier just for the tailgate!!
I've tried to justify a return to Chicago for the Honduras game sine I have to go to Chicago sometime this summer for an errand, but I live out East now and have Med boards to deal with this summer. DC in October again is a definite possibility though.
U.S. - Italy in Kaiserslautern was amazing. The draw for us was a moral victory, and it was just amazing to be at a world cup match and soak in the atmosphere. I remember walking down the "fan mile" before the match, and being blown away by the flood of fans. I would wish all the Italians I passed "buona fortuna" and I remember there just being a lot of good will, and absolutely no hint of hooliganism. A close second for me was U.S. - Jamaica at Foxboro in 2001. It was our first match after 9/11, and also the day we started bombing Afghanistan (because the networks switched over to coverage of what was happening over there, unfortunately the match was not televised). It was in October, and was just a gorgeous fall day at Foxboro -- clear blue sky, and a nice crisp New England autumn afternoon. I was standing in the Sam's Army section, and the atmosphere was just great. They had a large speaker set up for a guy to lead the songs and chants, and it worked out really well. Joe-Max Moore put us over the top by finishing his PK. Before the PK, the Jamaica keeper was talking trash to JMM, who just went up to him, shook his hand, and buried the penno. The Jamaica match was the one that clinched our qualification to the '02 WC, thanks to another match that day (I can't remember which one) going the right way. It was awesome to see the American players dancing around celebrating like a bunch of teenagers. And, as I recall, Keller climbed up the goal posts and sat atop the crossbar, doing his heavy metal rocker thing. One other memorable thing about the Jamaica match was that JOB had a superb game. He was really in top form (which he ended up carrying into the WC) and was just amazing on the dribble.