"Nobody.... and I mean nobody... has said a single thing about the United States doing ANYTHING in this World Cup. They have done something about which everyone will talk about tomorrow" - Jack Edwards Thanks for the memories and for making us proud fans of the national team.
Best day of my life as a U.S. fan. I was just a sleepy teenager back then, and remember my parents waking me up excitedly when we scored the first goal. Great, great game.
I was living in Tampa then..British born I'd only been living in the USA a few years then but followed the team and liked them... I knew they had ability...but had no idea how far we would go...AWESOME!
One of the best parts about this match was afterwards when an embarrassed Figo said something to the effect of, "We guarantee that we will not lose again in this tournament." and that it had waken them up. A week later they lose to S. Korea 1-0 and crash out of the group stage. Awesome.
I was in a bar in Zuelpicher district Cologne on my 3rd Koelsch I guess. Tons of Portugese fans waiting to pounce...and we scored and we scored and we scored then we held on for dear life. By the time the Germany quarterfinal was on we had them genuinely scared...ok, apprehensive.
Was 11 years old at the time, and we didn't get cable TV at our house, so I unfortunately missed it live. I go to school that day (my last day of 5th grade, to be exact), and the very first thing one of my friends says is, "Guys! The US beat Portugal!", the others in the group were kind of "meh", but I just snapped my head up going, "They WHAT?!?!?!!", especially since I was just praying for even a draw, after the victory, I felt even better. However, since I only had little internet access, I had to keep track of that World Cup through turning on the radio (and hope it got mentioned), and reading the newspapers the following day.
This was the first U.S. game I ever watched. I remember being a little kid and making mom wake me up in the middle of the night.
I remember watching the highlights on ESPN News and thinking I should give this World Cup thing a try. Needless to say I've been a fan of the beautiful game/USMNT since then.
Jumping up and down in my livingroom in the early pre-dawn hours, trying to not wake my family, but wanting to share the excitement. Still a very fresh, happy memory.
Have only seen the highlights since that game happened, sat down to watch the first half yesterday. I'm struck in watching the first half of that game by how good McBride was. Won everything in his area and made something good happen with it. Dump it long and get numbers in support works much better when you have him doing his thing. Also struck by - Hejduk's touch and passing really was always poor. We didn't give a crap about keeping possession at all anyway - it was get it forward really fast. I don't think our backline exchanged the ball at all.
Since we are talking WC 2002, whatever you do during your life, be sure to spend some time reading this blog by Michael Davies for ESPN Page 2 during the WC. It was fantastic. http://espn.go.com/page2/s/davies/020606.html
I woke up to see it with my dad who was born out of the country and went to a British boarding school. He is someone who organized -starting with friendly 2v2's - routine pickup games that were ultimately partially responsible for the manifestation of a new adult league in an excruciatingly anti soccer area. Recently they got a new field blessed with new players and now many Mexican Americans in one of the whitest counties in California. I vaguely remember being so very tired watching it but it's possible we taped it. I watched just enough soccer to know that the names in the Portugal were like Gods; untouchable compared to us. Figo. Pauleta! Rui Costa!! I didn't know exactly how good McBride was. Or Donovan. I knew our goalie was good. Something in me told me Beasley could make things happen. My favorite player. His forward movement and connections with Donovan was something that later could give me hope against any team. And I remember being lifted beyond my wildest dreams -one, two, THREE times, staring at a small TV for a game that was so far away but meant so much to our family. We were a small but passionate group of people. I remember our Polish friends being so surprised! And I remember later being so angry at them...How could such a conservative right wing family cheer for the team playing against the USA? As we watched the next games together, it was the total release of their joy in the Poland-USA game that irked me. Looking back, I think it was probably mixed with pride, relief...even sadness? Only later when I was a bit older did I even consider WHY they might be flag wavers after making their home here. The world cup is a beautiful tournament. What a game that was.
US soccer fans will always know what "screaming into your pillow" refers to due to this game. It's a wonder entire cities weren't reporting strange noises throughout the populace when McBride decided to get parallel to the ground. What a night!
(corny warning....) Great Memories. I was a first time father with my 6 month old girl lying on my lap in the middle of the night. She was crying that night and couldn't sleep and I was definitely watching this game so I did the "noble" thing and told my wife I would stay up with her so she could get some sleep At each goal I wanted to scream but couldn't cause I didn't want to wake her up. We bonded that night laying on the couch during that game, and now she is a 10 year-old elite soccer star and the pride of my life. I have brought it up to my daugher several times and she just looks at me weird. Someday she will understand. When I am old and feeble and I forget her age I will always remember it was the summer after she was born during the 2002 world cup when the U.S. beat Portugal. (assuming I can still do the math !) I finally had to call my friend and we giggled over the phone like little girls trying not to wake up our families.
I remember setting my alarm clock for like 4am or something ridiculous. It went off like a car bomb. I quickly stumbled downstairs and turned on ESPN. They literally were broadcasting a replay of funny car racing going into that game. Only in America. At this point, the prospect of watching the game by myself suddenly felt wrong, so I called up this British pub a few miles down the road and to my surprise, a woman answered the phone and immediate said 'Yeah luv, we've got the game on". I hung up, threw on 98 Wynalda jersey and some flip flops and was out the door. On the drive to the pub, I remember thinking "this is crazy, it's Tuesday night. I'm going to be the only psycho in there. I can't believe I just left the comfort of my home to go watch a game in a bar by myself. What's wrong with me?" Then I see pull all the cars in the parking lot. I'm thinking "Great, Portugal fans I bet. This is gonna suck if we get drilled." I walk in, and the place was JAMMED with US jerseys. There was maybe one Portugal jersey (Figo, of course!) but basically 99% hardcore US fans. There was even a few chicks! Decent ones too. I sit down just in time for kickoff and order a beer. Booom! O'Brien scores with authority. The bar explodes. Landon deflects it past Costa and into the net. I high five the dude in front of my so hard, I think I break my hand. I'm shaking with adrenaline. Tony Sanneh is charging up the right, sending a perfect cross to McBride who BURIES it with the most perfect header I've ever seen at any level. Only word word can describe the scene at this point: B-A-N-A-N-A-S! I don't think I've ever heard so many dudes go primal at the same exact moment. It was straight up tribal. I walk into work half-cocked and was dying to find someone, ANYONE, in my god forsaken corporate nightmare of an office who saw that game. Of course I was the only one. Different times back then.
Hey if it wasn't for us Koreans beating Portugal 1-0, you guys would have never progressed to the Round of 16. Thank us too