First Time in 50 Years

#2 > United States 5, Canada 3  Feb. 21

  The Outside The Arc staff knows about as much about hockey as we do about soccer.  However, it’s easy to spot national pride when it’s on display.  And when the United States played Canada in hockey at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver back in February, it was definitely on display.

  The Americans needed to win to continue to gain points in Group A, not necessarily just because it was against Canada.  A win against the “home team” would be big, though, and the U.S. team wore the jerseys that brought back images of the first gold medal that the Americans had won in hockey, all the way back in 1960, 50 years ago.  On top of that, the date was one day shy of being the 30^th anniversary of the “Miracle on Ice” at Lake Placid in 1980.

  The Canadians needed to win because, well, they were the home team, the favorites, and they were expected to.  This was just about the biggest stage in an already huge venue that had the world’s eye for two weeks.  Much was invested in this team, as well as these Olympic games.

  The United States got on the board quickly, very quickly, with a Brian Rafalski goal just 41 second into the game.  Canada’s Eric Staal would tie things up about 8 minutes later, but just 32 seconds after that, Rafalski put the U.S. back on top, 2-1.  They would trade a pair of goals and go into the third period 3-2.

  A goal that went in off Jamie Langenbrunner’s skate, gave the U.S. a 4-2 lead and all the margin they would need.  Sydney Crosby got on the board late in the game for the Canadians to make the score look better, but an empty-netter at the end put the final score at 5-3, with the U.S. on top.

  The Americans were clearly the underdogs playing in front of a raging sea of red in Vancouver and they had not beaten Canada in Olympic competition in 50 years, but they found a way to win.  Canada would ultimately get the prize, though, as seven days later they would avenge the loss with a 3-2 victory in the Gold Medal match and salvage some of that national pride.

Just One Win Can Make a Difference

#6 > United States 1, Algeria 0 June 23

Admittedly, OTA doesn’t follow soccer (or fútbol) that much. In the 1970s and 1980s, there was much more opportunity to watch and play baseball, basketball, and football (fútbol americano). But the World Cup is becoming increasingly popular and with the significant coverage that ESPN gave it this year, it was easier to follow. And besides, the United States’ team was exciting to watch.

The U.S. came into the third and final match of the round robin session with one win and one tie, and really needed a win to advance. They had put themselves in difficult positions in the first two games by allowing early goals and almost did the same thing against Algeria, with a shot on goal hitting the bar, but not going in. The U.S. had chances throughout, but couldn’t convert. And of course, there was another controversial disallowed goal. This time it was Clint Dempsey who had his taken away on a questionable (at best, outright lie at worst) offsides call.

After 90 minutes, there was still no score and it looked like the U.S. team might not advance, even though it hadn’t lost any games. But thankfully, there is the mysterious equivalent to overtime – extra time or stoppage time. And in the 91st minute, the United States had a long breakaway down the field. It looked like Dempsey might get poetic justice and a goal, but his shot was blocked. However, U.S. star Landon Donovan was following at a perfect pace and put the rebounded ball into the corner of the net.

Bandwagon fans came out of the woodwork to celebrate this amazing victory. But maybe some of them will stick around long enough to influence the popularity of this sport before the World Cup rolls around again in 2014.