Long unknown at home and ridiculed abroad, the United States isn't being written off in the soccer world anymore. But the Americans will need to pull together as team to get past their tough World Cup group. A motorcade of police cars with flashing blue lights and a massive, unmarked FIFA bus has announced the arrival and often rapid departure of the US soccer team in Hamburg over the past week. But when the American players are on their own, it's a different story. On Friday, star midfielder DaMarcus Beasley sat, blissfully anonymous, at a sidewalk café outside the Americans' well-guarded hotel in downtown Hamburg. A group night out by some of the team early in the week warranted only brief mention in the local paper. The contrast is typical of the US soccer story. Individually, the players are unknowns, their limited impact on the top European leagues ensuring them the sort of privacy their opponents in their World Cup group matches can only dream of. But as a team, the US is slowly making the rest of the world sit up and take notice. "We're not expecting to take anyone by surprise this time around," said Brian McBride, the team¹s go-to goal-scorer who will be playing in his third World Cup.
A motorcade of police cars with flashing blue lights and a massive, unmarked FIFA bus has announced the arrival and often rapid departure of the US soccer team in Hamburg over the past week. But when the American players are on their own, it's a different story.
On Friday, star midfielder DaMarcus Beasley sat, blissfully anonymous, at a sidewalk café outside the Americans' well-guarded hotel in downtown Hamburg. A group night out by some of the team early in the week warranted only brief mention in the local paper.
The contrast is typical of the US soccer story. Individually, the players are unknowns, their limited impact on the top European leagues ensuring them the sort of privacy their opponents in their World Cup group matches can only dream of. But as a team, the US is slowly making the rest of the world sit up and take notice.
"We're not expecting to take anyone by surprise this time around," said Brian McBride, the team¹s go-to goal-scorer who will be playing in his third World Cup.
