Thoughts on the USA vs. Slovenia Match

Sorry to those who expected me to respond immediately after the USA vs. Slovenia game, I simply needed an entire day to pull together all my thoughts after an emotional day that rendered me absolutely exhausted (this is of course assuming there is any demand by people who are interested in what I'm rambling about on here, but I know this is not the case). For most Americans, the game started at 10 AM and ended roughly around noon. For me, it started at 3 AM and ended around 1:30 AM the next day when I went to sleep. A long and exciting day, but one that I will remember for the rest of my life, and one that had a happy ending.

We left for the airport at 7 AM (the game was in Johannesburg, we’re staying in Cape Town), but I awoke at 3 AM simply out of excitement. I felt like a kid before Christmas Day, but multiplied by 1000. When FIFA decided to stage the World Cup in South Africa some six years ago, I’ve wanted to go. The second I heard the World Cup would be in Africa, I knew I had to go to a match. It’s been so far away, far away for a good chunk of my life, so please excuse me for being too excited to be troubled by sleep on the eve of something so major to me. I thought it would be best to lower my heart rate though so I wouldn’t suffer a stroke that would keep me from attending the match. My cure was listening to the calm music of The Middle East, Regina Spektor and The Dodos (all music given to me by my lovely girlfriend Becca, so thank you for assisting in the prevention of my death).

Eventually, my parents knocked on the door, I showered and we departed for the airport. Everything went smoothly until we got to David, our driver to the game. David, working his first day on the job, was able to get us to Ellis Park easily, but not find the parking lot we were supposed to be in. This resulted in us being driven all over the terrible area surrounding the stadium for an hour and a half, during which I saw my family’s emotions range from worry, to annoyance to rage. Eventually, David found our lot (right next to the stadium) and we got out. The atmosphere of the event wasn’t comparable to anything I’ve been to, and this is coming from someone who has seen his hometown team in the Super Bowl. Everywhere you went there were crazy costumes, vuvuzelas blaring (overrated, not in any way annoying and should be allowed) and drunk Slovenians screaming at the top of their lungs. We Yanks outnumbered them and were quite feisty, but there was something special about the Slovenians; their country is not well known (often confused for Slovakia), especially for its sports, so they were clearly excited and proud to be in the world’s spotlight for once.

We took out seats, which were fantastic despite being in the upper deck and got prepared to watch the game. Our section ended up being pretty heavily Slovenian, so we couldn’t scream “USA!” too loudly for fear of being attacked. Then the starting lineups marched on and the national anthems started playing. Not going to lie, I got emotional once the players stepped on the field. I suddenly realized the magnitude of this moment, how much time I had spent imagining it and how there was no more waiting, that I was experiencing it. I sang our anthem like I never had before (emphasizing the “O!” like any proud Orioles fan), and then the match began.

The first half was a nightmare. The first Slovenian goal resulted in our row getting drenched in beer that was chucked into the air by the jubilated Slovenians in front of us. They yelled and taunted at us, but then apologized profusely for the beer spilling. It’s kind of hard to hate a country that has only existed twenty years and has a population the size of Brooklyn. Anyway, after the goal went in I immediately began to feel an intense pain in my right side. I honestly thought I needed to go to the hospital, I hadn’t felt pain like this in my life. I knew it was a result of my fear of what may happen during the match, but for a few minutes I thought I needed medical assistance. The USA rallied though, with some fantastic chances being created that really should’ve been put away before the half was out (I should state that my wild card for the USA, Jose Torres, got the start I was clamoring for, but was absolutely awful. My bad, but still think he has a role to play for us in the future if not at this World Cup). After a particularly close one where a Slovenian defender stepped right in before Landon Donovan could pounce on it on the goal line, I had this sudden feeling that Slovenia were going to score again. Sure enough, a long pass, a misstep by Jay DeMerit and it was 2-0 to Slovenia.

Absolute shock and horror were my emotions at halftime. And a little bit of anger: I’d waited for this moment for years, and this was what I was going to see? I kind of wanted to go in to the locker room and yell at the players myself, but even if I could have this arranged, I wasn’t physically able to because my right side hurt so bad I could barely stand. But after the second half started, I sensed a new sense of urgency in the team: this was it, their backs were pretty much against the wall, they had to do something. The way this started was Landon Donovan’s goal, but Donovan did so much more after it. He was fantastic, and provided that go to player the USA has for so long desired in big games. That was the difference between this game and the Ghana game 4 years ago: we had a player who took the game and put it on his shoulders, pretty much saying “I’m going to carry you guys to a result”. We controlled the match, causing our row to get much more vocal and the Slovenians to go dead silent, after being raucous the entire first half. The goal was coming and finally it came with Michael Bradley finding the net. His celebration was great; the look on his face was of pure joy, relief and excitement, just fantastic to watch. He’s a potential captain for our team, that moment proved it. It was also great in the stands as the Slovenians were dead silent and shocked, ripe to have USA flags thrust in the faces and suffer “USA!” chants. Although I’ve stated I don’t have anything against their country, in that moment, I wanted nothing more for them to know that my team, my country, had just overcome theirs against all the odds. In their face. Also, thankfully, my intense pain all of a sudden left. Amazing what a goal can do to one’s health.

Then came the Maurice Edu incident, which is what every USA fan is talking about. Should the goal have been allowed? Yes, I’ve seen numerous replays and it should’ve been allowed, especially with the amount of shoving the Slovenians were doing. Edu is innocent, there is no doubt his goal was fine. I personally do not care. The USA gave up two goals and was lucky to come back against a very defensive and organized team, one that doesn’t blow leads often. That is the story for me: the USA was almost all but out of the competition and clawed their way back in. Their play in the first half has made them lucky to still be alive, so they shouldn’t complain too much. Now, if they still don’t advance then I will definitely feel a little bit robbed because we did the work to win that game. That said, if we do not advance it’s because we choked against Algeria, an inferior team we should beat, so even then I really won’t be able to complain. At this point I’m thankful we’re still alive (and actually would prefer to finish second so as to avoid the Germans and get the Serbs, who are all of a sudden not pathetic anymore).

After the game, the USA fans were ecstatic while the Slovenian fans were distraught. I consoled a few of the ones who spilled the beer in front of me; I would feel awful in their shoes, as would most sports fans. My spirits couldn’t have been higher though, as I proudly held my newly bought USA scarf above my head and chanted my country’s initials. My actions caused me to get spotted by an ABC reporter who interviewed me on camera for about 3 minutes which was fun. I didn’t end up on the news, but my Dad took tons of photos of me being interviewed, so I have proof this actually happened. Then we got back to the airport safely (no miscues by David), and got ready to leave. At this moment I immediately felt exhausted. I’ve never been that tired, not even when I got dehydrated at the Obama inauguration. I suppose this is what happens when one cares far too much about their team; I’d say this is a symptom of World Cup Fever. I literally passed out the second I got in my seat on the airplane, and pretty much don’t remember anything until the next morning when we awoke to go to Robben Island (which was a great time, very moving as well).

Overall, I would say the experience exceeded all expectations I had, which is saying something. The come from behind aspect of it was great, although a win would’ve been great. Really cannot complain though, especially after that first half. In terms of the USA advancing, Algeria still being alive does us no good. Algeria have a history of bagging it when they do not have a mathematical chance of advancing, resulting in them getting blown out, which would’ve been nice for us considering the magnitude of this game. It’s a tricky game, but I still like us to win and advance. The key is an early goal; if the Algerians start to see no hope early, they could still bag it and we could win big. It is not a necessity, but a goal in the first fifteen minutes and I would almost guarantee a USA victory.

Who goes with us is tough though. England has been dreadful, and Slovenia really does deserve to advance. Unfortunately for Slovenia though, I don’t see it. We Americans call our game a comeback; they call theirs a massive choke. That is a tough one for them to recover from, especially when their opponent is a talented team like England. I pick the English to win, meaning the USA could get first on goal differential. Either way I really do not care: bring on the Serbs, Germans or Ghanaians (sorry Aussies, don’t see it happening), the spirit of this team really could take us to the quarterfinals. The Serbs have been known to choke, the Ghanaians are inconsistent and this isn’t Germany’s year (Lukas Podolski’s failed penalty shot was their first at the World Cup since 1982. If that doesn’t spell out it isn’t their year, I don’t know what does.) The Americans are a good team, not a good collection of individual talent, but a good team, something many teams are not at this final (England, France, Cameroon etc.). But I’m getting ahead of myself: let’s just hope for a win against Algeria, that’s all Americans, can ask for right now. Thankfully for us though, I think our boys will deliver, and I will be lucky enough to witness it live.

Well I’m off to sleep. It’s 11:40 here and I’ve got to wake up at 5 AM and go on a safari. Hopefully won’t get stamped on by an elephant. Enjoy the soccer everyone and leave your thoughts and opinions!