Luckily for us, Ginger is celebrating her birthday by providing another special on the USA - Algeria thriller from yesterday. So enjoy and be sure to thank her and more importantly wish her a Happy Birthday. Cheers!
This game marked the third time that I have seen team USA play live. I attended their first match against Brazil in the Confederations Cup last year (also in Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria) where they played disappointingly and lost 0-3. I also was present for Grand Theft Coulibaly last week, where USA tied Slovenia 2-2 despite knocking in the winning goal that would be infamously called back by the now exiled and disgraced Malian referee. I guess it was fated that the third time would be the charm and that the Americans would finally win one in spectacular fashion, but they did take their time in doing so!
Pretoria is a 50km drive from Johannesburg, so we left at 1pm to make sure we arrived at the game in time. We did the park and ride again and we arrived at the stadium by 2:30pm. While we were excited to be on the sunny side of the stadium, we were somewhat dismayed to discover that we were seated directly behind an enormous section of Algerian fans. Several hundred Algerians had showed up en masse, with flags, jerseys, banners, face paint, jester hats and bravado. With group D wide open, the winning teams of each match today would likely advance.
We settled into our seats, which were Category 1 this time, only 30 rows back from the field. A few more USA supporters joined us in our area and we formed small islands of stars and stripes among the crowds of white, green and red wearing Algerians. Since we had plenty of time I applied even more elaborate face paint to my friend Nick and his Uncle Jimmy, who had flown up from Cape Town to join us. Nick and I also decided to write US on our stomachs, as the temperature in Pretoria was noticeably warmer than Joburg. Our costumes made us very popular, as American, Algerian and South African supporters wanted to pose for pictures with us. At one point one of the cameramen trained the camera on us but I don't think we made ESPN, sadly.
As the teams took the field for warmup, the excitement in the stadium heightened. The Algerians sang songs and chanted, "One, two, three, viva l'Algerie!" The US fans responded with cheers of "USA! USA! USA!" and something that sounded like the tune to "Oh My Darlin'" with the only lyrics being "USA!" At the moment of kickoff, the crowd erupted into frenzied cheers and it took some time for things to settle down into a normal rhythm.
Thankfully, the Americans succeeded in their endeavor to not give up an early goal in the first half. Instead, Clint Dempsey's valid goal was called back due to an alleged offsides. It looked perfectly good to us, the replay they showed on the Jumbotron also showed no offsides and I would later see replays from US and European sports channels that confirmed once again the ref seemed to be unfairly conspiring against us (or at least, blind as a bat).
The game became more and more hard fought into the second half. One thing about the American team that makes me proud is that we don't take dives--we just get up and keep playing. Some of the Algerians, however, had no such scruples and we received some unfair penalties against us as a result. One Algerian player, Hassan Yebda, was a real standout playmaker, often intercepting passes or controlling goalie kicks and moving the ball forward. He stood out for other reasons as well, since he had a white blonde dyed mohawk that might rank as one of the worst follicular challenges in the entire tournament.
As the clock slowly ticked towards 90 minutes, the attacks of both teams became more and more frenzied. The US had biffed several open goal or one on one chances throughout the match and we were getting more and more desperate for a goal. The ball flew back and forth from one side to another as the players raced desperately in an attempt to score first. When the official held up the sign indicating four minutes of injury time, my heart clenched as I feared that we would run out of time. We knew that England was leading Slovenia 1-0, so if we didn't win this game we'd be out of the World Cup.
And then, in the 91st minute, Tim Howard threw the ball to Landon Donovan, who passed it to Jozy Altidore. Both players had been trying so hard to make plays and attack and had up until this point been thwarted. Altidore passed the ball towards Clint Dempsey, but it bounced off the Algerian goalkeeper. Donovan was in the perfect position to slam it into the net. The crowd paused for a second, terrified that once again the ref would call the goal back, but amazingly it was good! The USA fans erupted into a delirious celebration. Landon Donovan, the beloved tiny pixie of US Soccer on his dancing feet, had saved us from yet another ignominious early exit from the world cup. As we cheered, screamed, hugged, high-fived and tooted vuvuzelas from the stands, Donovan slid like he was riding a slip'n'slide as the US team dove into a giant puppy pile near the corner. The Algerians fell to their knees, stunned. The last minutes of the match flew by in a tide of reckless joy on our part and some unfortunate fouls on the part of the Algerian team. When the final whistle blasts sounded, the stadium truly went crazy. USA fans stayed an extra 45 minutes after the game ended to cheer the team, who came by after the media interviews were over to salute and wave at fans. Amazingly we had won our group, beating England on goals even though we both advanced with five points. As I'm sure you've already heard, the last time the US finished #1 in their group was 1930, in the first World Cup ever.
As we slowly filed out of the stadium, random strangers from both countries kept coming up to us and wanting to pose in photos. We laughed, we hugged, we shook hands and slowly marched out into the chilly night for the drive back to Joberg. After so many tournaments and matches where US Soccer fans ended up sad and out of contention, we had finally done it and it was a magical feeling indeed.
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