USA Makes It to Final 16

Throughout the soccer games for the United States in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, our nation has been pretty lucky most of the time. Our team has not lost any game so far this year, sometimes barely tying against the opponent. But other times we win the game easily. One example is from the most recent playoff, USA verses Algeria. Everywhere the crowd was cheering for our soccer team, so energetic and loud. It seemed as if there were more U.S. fans in the stadium than South Africans. The first few minutes seemed dull and plain, with no team rushing in for some great goal. Occasionally an Algerian would somehow maneuver past our defenders and take a shot, only to find it missing or blocked. But after the 20th minute, all this had changed, and our players were dribbling for a goal. Just when the Americans thought that Dempsey had scored a wonderful goal for us, the referee called him off sides, and the point was gone. This is probably the unluckiest moment that USA has had so far. Many people thought that Gomez made a perfect pass to Dempsey, who rightfully scored a magnificent goal, but the referee didn’t, and made a big mistake. But even if he had called wrong, whatever he said is just what happens. But after this unfortunate event, our soccer players were soon back toward the goal attempting more shots. Even though they missed them, our players kept persisting. Soon it was the last minute. The fans were tense. The players were slowly becoming tired. But then suddenly US player Landon Donovan was sprinting with the ball toward the goal. Then another player, Jozy Altidore, took over and attempted the shot. He fumbled with the ball and then fell to the ground, but Donovan was ready. He made one final shot, which cleanly went in. Luckily, the goalie fell down with Jozy and could not react fast enough. This one, skilled and lucky goal let USA advance into the Final 16.