For those who somehow forgot First, this happened follow by 20 minutes of domination and Portugese futility, which lead to this freak occurance... and while Jack and TY were busy reminding us that "Portual came back, down 2-0 vs Ingerland".. "THEY'RE **something-ing** PORTUGAL!!" so where you? Hopefully not stuck in traffic in Europe. below is my post from this this thread BigSoccer's threads regarding this match has long been eaten in various crashes (Dammit huss!) but here is a thread from a competing board which SHOULD be allowed to be posted. I've had it bookmarked for 2 years. The pregame "commentary" is priceless. the first three links are the goal clips inside zip files for those that dont have them. I'll host them for a few days. Happy Anniversary!
i was in my living room in alabama... it was a dream start because i also had $5 on JOB to score first at 33-1
let me add that honestly, that might have been the greatest first 38 to a game ever... i think i woke up the whole neighborhoodd after each goal, after the 3rd one by mcbride i just sat there looking at the television in utter amazement. that line by jack after mcbride's goal, "they're drumming portugal" is one of those lines i will honestly never forget... for those who wanna relive the whole glory as we approach WCQ'ing again. i have posted up the highlight clip from the end of the run in the WC on HPI.
I was watching the game at home, still very much half asleep until the first goal. After O'Brien put it home I ran around the house wanting to scream, but I had to hold it in to keep from waking everybody up. The adrenaline was flowing like crazy after that. After the third goal I was on the verge of tears of joy....I couldn't believe what was happening, but I was so glad that it was.
I just finished reading all 12 (!) pages, and you're right...that pre-game stuff is pure comedy gold!!! Some of those guys are probably still in denial 2 years later... Thanks!
Even though the US beat Portugal they did get scored on twice and the loss to Poland who finished last in the group( I think)...but we made it far and could have won it have it not been for a German handball..btw...does anybody have a picture of the handball?
I remember I had convinced my roomates to watch the game with me. One of them was British so he was probably going watch it anyways but I had told them to wake me up if I was being too lazy to get out of bed. One of them came into my room and said, 'Matt you better get in here.' I was still half asleep when I walked into the living room and saw the 1-0 scoreline. I swear to god I thought I was still dreaming. It took me another five minutes to get fully awake and realize that my eyes weren't playing tricks on me and the rest is history. Easily one of the most exciting mornings of my life.
That morning, I had set my alarm for 30 minutes before kickoff, enough time to shower, make coffee and scarf down a bowl of cereal. I was still chomping on the last of the Frosted Mini Wheats as the first whistle blew, and I was cursing to myself during the first two minutes of the match as we were playing chase the ball. And then O'Brien scored and I silently jumped up and down, screaming inside my head as my wife, 6 months pregnant, and my son, then four years old, slept upstairs. By the time I calmed down a bit, I realized I had knocked over the bowl and had to quickly grab a towel and sop the milk up from the carpet. I was crying with tears of joy as the freak second goal went in, thinking that this surely must be a dream, and by the time the third went in, I could no longer hold back the screams of delight, only to hear my wife say to me from the top of the stairs in a clenched teeth anger/whisper, "If you wake up Nathan [our son], I'm going to kill you!" The rest of the match, including the one that Portugal got back, Agoos' own goal, and the waning minutes as WE played keep away in the far corners, were all a blur to me -- I remember them only because I've watched the tape probably 10-15 time since then. This was the single most exciting and memorable US match I've ever seen, even better than our 2-0 victory over El Tri, as sweet as that was. Thanks, Tree, for the memories.
Deuteriumoxide, I don't know if you're allowed to mention something like this. You might get red carded on merit. I was living in Brasil and woke up completely amped an hour before the game. There was no chance of me getting back to sleep, but nor did I want to. As the first goal went in, I freaked out, but in a somewhat silent way. I didn't want to wake my girlfriend or her parents. The second goal, however, was too much and I allowed myself a brief audible freak scene. It drew the attention of my special lady friend's mother and she came out and watched the game, in amazement, with me. What an amazing morning. After the game ended, 6 in the morning, I walked up the street, in my US jersey, and beamed with pride as all the people out at this ungodly hour shouted out to me about the great result. Hell, I get goose bumps thinking about it now. Here's to many more of these memories in the future. authors note: I was staying at my girlfriend's house because they had a bigger TV.
I couldn't sleep at all before the game... '98 was such a nightmare that I was prepared for the worst. Four years is a long time to wait. I guess the Portuguese had even longer to wait. I was watching by myself and did the silent freak-out thing after the first goal so as not to wake up my girlfriend. When Donovan scored I was in shock, especially because of how lucky it was. When McBride scored on the cross from Sanneh I totally went ape******** again, because that goal was so nice, and Sanneh and McBride were former Rampage guys. I didn't care when they got one back, but when Agoof hit that full volley golazo my heart stopped. The rest of the match was torture, but when the final whistle blew, and the realization set in, it was almost like the monkey was off of our backs, because no matter what happened, at least we won one great game against a (supposedly) good team. The rest of the cup was icing on the cake. I think that my expectations are going to be a lot harder to meet in '06, but the team will be a lot better.
I woke up for the game, watched in amazement as we outplayed portugal 3-2 , then i went to my high school graduation, got that crap over with, i then proceeded to watch the game again, as usa dominated portugal
This game was one of my fondest soccer memories. I watched with several hundreds of my closests friends in Summers - we were jammed in there standing shoulder-to-shoulder. After the final whistle - an ad-hoc celebration out on the streets of arlington!!! While I hoped the US would do well, a tie would have been satisfactory....