(Photo by Jamie McDonald/Getty Images)
It was an historic day on June 21, 2009 in South Africa. The USA faced Egypt in the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg. According to the experts in football (soccer), it was a game in which the victory belonged to Egypt.
There were many reasons that were discussed among the experts. One of the reasons was that the USA was not a nation of football (soccer) but one of American football, basketball, and baseball. The experts reasoned that these sports were the ones that ruled USA.
One reason that gave Egypt victory over the USA was the victory of Egypt in June 8, 1987 in Seoul, South Korea.
The experts remained adamant in their theories even though the FIFA Coca Cola Standings as of June 2009 placed the USA in 14th place with 947 points compared with Egypt in 40th place with 719 points. Many people have forgotten that since the 1994 World Cup, the USA took strides to move forward as a football (soccer) nation.
Who will forget the lone fan who travelled from Arizona to Washington State and then to Illinois to see his beloved Manchester United? What about the various teams such as the Miami FC that have formed after the 1994 World Cup? What about the formation of the MLS?
Who could not forget the people who trained in football (soccer) camps since the 1994 World Cup? What about the USA vs. Honduras Game in Chicago, Illinois?
The presence of 23,140 people watching the USA vs. Egypt game paled in comparison to the more than 57,000 people who saw the USA play against Honduras for the CONCACAF World Cup Classification.
The USA has come a long way since its humiliating defeat to Iran during the 1998 World Cup to respectable standings in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. Regardless, the experts dismiss all of this and said that the US Victory was secondary to Brazil eliminating Italy in the Confederation Cup of 2009.
It was inevitable that Brazil would defeat Italy since Brazil is one of the greatest when it comes to football. What happened was that Davies, Bradley, and Dempsey were able to surprise the negative people with their dominance of the game via their discipline and playing consistency.
The first goal which was by Davies in 21 minutes was due to a direct kick which El Hadary (Egypt) attempted to block but without any success. In fact, El Hadary crashed into fellow citizen Fathi in an attempt to block the goal.
Everything remained the same, while Brazil was taking care of its game with Italy. The second half was full of surprises with a goal by Michael Bradley in the 63rd minute and another one by Clint Dempsey within 71 minutes.
Egypt was a tough opponent with various opportunities to score, and they almost did; in one instance within 90 minutes, Gomaa (Egypt) attempted to score a goal but kicked the ball over the bar of the goal post.
It appears that Spain will play against the USA. Spain may win but the fact remains that the US Soccer Team has come a long way since the 1994 World Cup. US Soccer is only beginning to write its chapter in football (soccer) history.
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