Holy crap USA. Glad Engerland went through in the end too. Shaky there for a while though
This is the 4th time the US has reached the knockout stage, but the first was in 1930, where they reached the semis against a small field. Then in 1994 when the US was host, they went through after a 1-1 draw with Switzerland, and a 2-1 victory over Colombia. That was the match where the Colombian defender Andres Escobar had an own goal and was later murdered back home in Colombia, some say as a consequence. Although ESPN has a documentary on this month "The Two Escobars" that link the killing to the Medellin cocaine cartel and Pablo Escobar.
Went through in 2002 in a group with host South Korea, Portugal, and Poland, beating Portugal 3-2 and tying South Korea 1-1. Then beat hated rival Mexico to reach the quarterfinals where they lost 1-0 to Germany. In the last minutes the US had a shot blocked by the arm of a defender on the line that was inexplicably not called by the Scottish referee.
Group of death more or less in 2006 with Italy, Czech Republic, and Ghana. A 1-1 draw against the Italians was the high point. What I remember from the tournament was Bruce Arena playing McBride as a lone striker all three games and then they'd just boot it down the field to him hoping for a miracle. Dreadful stuff.
And 2010 now too. Ian Darke said during the match that if they gave a World Cup for heart and determination the the US deserved it. That may be true but I just hope they can do a little better finishing from here on. And no more disallowed goals would be nice too.
