Anything could happen in this game. The US team is one of the most schizophrenic on earth.
A few weeks ago this team got blasted by Costa Rica and barely squeezed past Honduras. Then at the start of the tournament we got spanked by Italy (led by an American-born teenager) and buried by Brazil. To get into the next round we had to beat Egypt by 3 goals and Brazil had to beat Italy by 3. In other words, it was a mathematical possibility, but 6 goal swings in soccer basically never happen.
Of course, we all know what happened then. The US ate something magical for breakfast the day before the Egypt game, and a 3-0 win, together with a 3-0 win for Brazil put the US into the semis against Spain, where the US again played a great game to end Spain's record winning streak.
We see glimpses of real brilliance from the US team every once in a while. In 1994 they beat Colombia and were reasonably competitive against Brazil. In 1998 they beat a full-strength Brazilian team in the Gold Cup. In 2002 they were a German handball away from the World Cup semis. In 2006 they matched Italy for a 1-1 draw in a brutally tough group stage game.
But then there are also moments of despair. In 1998 the US was embarrassing at the World Cup. In 2006 we just needed to beat Ghana to advance, but we lost that game.
So who knows what US team will turn up later today. It could be amazing, but it also could be embarrassing.
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