Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Lando Can't-miss-ian

I'm hooked. Soccer is awesome. As you know, I have made an effort to be a soccer fan for the 2010 World Cup. So, I went to a local bar here an Auburn called Quixote's to watch the match this morning at 8:30 a.m. Mimosas and breakfast burritos were flowing and patriotism was high. I felt like a true soccer fan watching a match in a bar in the morning! In the seventh minute, Algeria hit the top bar on a shot that scared us all to death. Later, a Clint Dempsey goal was discounted because we were called offsides, which we weren't. Thus, after 90 minutes of play, the score was still nil-nil. At the time, England was up 1-0 on Slovenia. If those results had stayed, England and Slovenia would have moved on to the round of 16 and we would have gone home. Things were looking grim. The official added four minutes of extra time. In the 91st minute, Algeria made a rifle shot on our goal, but our monster of a keeper stopped it. He quickly threw it out to one of our players in just the right spot. It was then passed downfield and we were on the move! Landon Donovan passed it to Jozy Altidore who shot, but the ball was blocked. As the ball came bouncing out, Donovan smashed it in. The place went NUTS. The country went nuts. All hell broke loose. Beer was spraying everywhere. It was better than an Auburn win. In a split second, we went from going home, to winning our group and moving on. (By the way, we haven't won our group since 1930!) Elation. Pure joy. Check it out.


After the initial celebration the bar broke into a rousing rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. It was the "War Eagle fly down the field" of our entire nation. What a cool moment. Go USA!!

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