I HATE Missing All the Fun!

Wow!
What a summer for the USMNT!
An improbable run into the final of the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa, the country's first appearance in a FIFA-sponsored final, shook the game's experts into respect. In route to that final berth, the US scored the 'dialed up' number of goals against Egypt necessary to advance, earning the right to play the #1-ranked team in the world -- Spain.
Shock the world? Damn right!

A convincing 2-0 win over Spain earned a berth against another of the game's giants, Brazil, in the final.
More shock and awe? Absolutely, but only to a point.
Another 2-0 lead, this time only served to awake that sleeping giant, as the US run finally ran out of emotional gas in a 3-2 loss in that final. Nonetheless, the world reputation of our team WAS enhanced, and that reputation had been well-earned by coach Bob Bradley's side as a team, now not only hard to beat, but capable of posting a win against ANY team on a given day.

Following draining club seasons, accelerated qualifiers, the exhausting run in South Africa, the CONCACAF Gold Cup became Bradley's opportunity to audition, and fine tune, his selections for the following summer, while giving rest to those much in need of just that.

Once the regional hexagonals resumed, however, it was back to first-side soccer. A rare away goal in the Hell that is Estadio Azteca was not enough to hold off a maliciously contested 2-1 loss to Mexico. That, though, would be the last US loss in qualifying.

A 2-1 win over El Salvador in Salt Lake City, followed by an away win at Trinidad and Tobago, during the September cycle of qualifiers put qualification for South Africa on the US door step. Come the October finale of away-then-home, our lads left no doubt, winning the first, 3-2, at Honduras, advancing America to the rarefied air of their sixth consecutive World Cup Finals tournament.

Enough of this watching from afar, damn it. The last qualifier, in RFK, against third-place Costa Rica, called me to again hit the highway and get behind the camera.

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