Live from Rustenburg: USA-England

51 hours in transit. A bus driver that did not know how to get to the Royal Bafokeng Stadium. About 3 hours of sleep in the past 2 days. None of that mattered, it was USA-England, the World Cup and a match that is as big as it gets.

After getting kitted up in red, white and blue and bumping into two other Americans on the bus that I had travelled with during the Confederations Cup last June, I was ready to cheer the Stars & Stripes onto victory.

While the English fans were greater in number and probably louder in voice, the American support from Sam’s Army and the American Outlaws was outstanding. The English had certainly arrived to the stadium early with English flags draped over every free inch of the stadium. I have to say aesthetically, it looked very impressive.

As per usual protocol, the larger than life American flag came out during the Star Spangled Banner and finally it was time for kickoff.

While things didn’t start well with Steven Gerrard’s goal bringing the English fans to their feet, the Americans in the crowd never wavered in their support and never stopped singing even after the goal.

When Clint Dempsey scored to draw us level, the American section of the stadium went into raptures. Since there were no replays or even a clock in the stadium, it was tough to see how much of a mess Robert Green had made of the shot since it all happened so quickly. We knew it was a howler, but seeing it again on replays the next day it looked ten times worse.

Right after the goal, the inevitable chants of “Are you Scott Carson in disguise? Are you Paul Robinson in disguise?” started from the Americans as we held on into the halftime break.

After the break, the Americans looked lively and if a goal was coming, it was obvious that it would be from Jozy Altidore beating Jaime Carragher, as he looked like a fish out of water. Altidore gave Carragher nightmares the entire second half and you must say there were flashes of brilliance from the young striker. He came so close to the winner after turning Carragher and then hitting the bar.

England has a massive problem at centerback moving forward, as it was exposed in Rustenburg as being very soft indeed.

Having been in Bloemfontein for that memorable victory against Spain, I thought our defense (after the first 10 minutes) was every bit heroic as that fateful night. Jay DeMerit kept Wayne Rooney as quiet as one can and showed once again that he can shut down some of the best forwards in the world, while Gooch was back to the Onyewu that all of us have come to know over the years.

Overall, the feeling from the Americans in the crowd was that of pure ecstasy at the final whistle, even though a lot of us felt we could have nicked a winner in the second half. We certainly deserved at least a point and there were a lot of Englishmen who went home very, very unhappy.

It was nothing but glum and silence from the English as they left the stadium unhappy with the result, but I think more importantly were deflated after seeing an England that surely will not be lifting the trophy at Soccer City on July 11th.

Having been in the crowd for multiple American matches overseas and all of last year’s Confederations Cup matches, the atmosphere in Rustenburg was simply on another level. If you can ever make it to a World Cup, do not hesitate as this was simply the pinnacle of watching my beloved USMNT play.

For those of you in the crowd in Rustenburg, it was a pleasure and an honor to root on our boys in your presence. For those of you watching in the US, keep up the faith!