Inside the pessimism of a USA football (soccer) fan

I think I am exaggerating when I call myself a fan. I'm not really. I'm also not terribly patriotic. I'm not a "USA USA! USA!" kind of person and I get a bit annoyed that this is our one and only thing that is shouted at stadiums in support of the team.

With 2 wins in a row - which is the first time the USA has done this in a very long time and I believe the only time they have done it in qualifying rounds - the people are getting hyped that the USA could go really far in this tournament, but then there are people like me that have been there, done that, with faith in this squad even though the squad evolves over time, and think we are just a match or at most 2 matches, away from a real wake up call.

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The 2-0 victory over Australia meant a lot to team USA and a lot to the fans while at the same time people with a bit of knowhow realize that Australia isn't exactly a force in the global game and most of their population doesn't really give a damn about the sport. People in Australia also call the came soccer because "football' refers to another sport in that country and no, it isn't the same one that Americans call football.

We've got a W against one of the weakest South American teams and a W against a team that qualifies for the World Cup almost every year simply because in order to get there they mostly just have to win games over Polynesian island countries with a population less than Connecticut. You could also claim that USA qualifies often for the same reason even though it is in a different part of the world and you would be correct.

For me, I take these victories with a grain of salt and look at the fans and say things in my head like "calm down, you haven't actually played anyone particularly good yet." I recall a few WC's ago when the Americans did well in the qualifiers, I think they even drew 1-1 with England. Then, they advanced to the knockout stages and faced a rather small European nation of Belgium and were completely outclassed. I remember that the main thing that people remember from that match was that goalkeeper Tim Howard set a record for the most saves ever made in a World Cup game by a goalkeeper. he was a busy boy because the USA side was completely incapable of keeping possession and the defense was getting circles run around them. It was a frustrating game to watch in the first half and by the 2nd half most were just happy that they were able to minimize the damage/embarrassment.

Now the USA is through to the knockout stages and it is far too early to have any real idea about who they might face. It would be wonderful if they were to finish in first place so they could get a weaker team in the KO's, but accomplishing that isn't entirely up to them.

On the 25th they have a game vs. Turkiei or however we spell that country's name anymore (Turkey) and if they can roll through them like they did Paraguay and Australia, there might be a little bit of wiggle room for braggarts.

I do not like how some fans and pundits are calling the USA team likely contenders for the overall title. I do not think we are anywhere near that. Once we have played a European team or a good South American team (or even Japan or Korea) then maybe they can have some wiggle room for arrogance. Turkey might be the perfect team to test this theory since they do have a professional league and they do have a European style of play while still only be a slightly above average European team.

How the USA does against them is going to be a real eye-opener.

I am hoping for the best, but I've been down this road many times in my life and know better than to get my hopes up.

For me, I would be very content if they simply advanced past the first round of the brackets.