U-S-A ! U-S-A !

The USA National Soccer Team has advanced to the knockout stage of the World Cup! With a goal over Algeria in extra time, The Yanks have advanced to the round of 16. USA now has a match against Ghana Saturday afternoon and if they win that match, they will face the winner of Uruguay and South Korea on July 2nd.

With FIFA ranked #5 Italy, #9 France, and #13 Greece being eliminated, and teams like Croatia, Russia and Egypt (ranked 10,11 & 12 respectively) not making the tournament, rankings are obviously not important, but I do find it interesting that between USA, Ghana, Uruguay, & South Korea, The Yanks have the highest ranking of all these teams (USA-14, Uruguay-16, Ghana-32, S Korea-47).

At this stage of the game, no match will be easy, especially playing Ghana on their native continent of Africa, but without being put in a bracket with the likes of Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, Spain, Germany, or The Netherlands, I see this as the best opportunity for the US National Team to make a run to the semifinals.

People have said our team is not that good & mention our 2 ties as evidence, but I have another piece of evidence for the naysayers. WE HAVE NOT LOST A GAME YET. I am not saying we will make a run to win the World Cup, but I am saying this is our best chance, on the world's biggest stage, to take soccer in our country to another level and bring a new found respect to a sport that every other country already sees as the greatest sport in the world.