World Cup Fever by Stephen Rea

Author:Stephen Rea
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781510718098
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Published: 2018-04-05T04:00:00+00:00

England

Algeria

Slovenia

Yanks

The buildup to the opening match against England was dominated by memories of the famous 1950 clash. This time, though, the Americans conceded after only four minutes, but they refused to be bulldozed and after they weathered the initial flurry, the English ran out of steam. Five minutes before the break, Dempsey’s speculative long-distance shot squirmed into the net and the contest ended 1–1. The New York Post’s front page read, “USA WINS 1–1. Greatest tie against the British since Bunker Hill.”

Against Slovenia it seemed the USA were determined to make things as difficult for themselves as possible and went in at the break 2–0 behind. But they rallied after the interval, Donovan halved the deficit and eight minutes from time the coach’s son, Michael Bradley, made it 2–2. The comeback tie felt like a win, and for only the second time since 1930 the USA were unbeaten after two games. They were well-placed to make the next round—as always though, there were twists and turns ahead.

They bossed the match against Algeria needing a win to make the last 16 but couldn’t find a way through, hitting the bar, missing two sitters, and having a goal ruled out for offside. But in injury time it was the dynamic double D duo, Dempsey and Donovan, to the rescue again: Dempsey’s shot was blocked and Donovan converted the rebound. They held on for the nail-biting, heart-stopping final minutes and won their first-round group for the first time since 1930. I was emailed a new Americanized version of that front-page headline:

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