Watching Team USA

It's game day with Germany, and like what I hope is most of the US, I am watching my country's representatives fighting Germany.  Nobody expects us to win.  I personally sort of believe in the concept of any given team on any given day, but then again, I have been accused of being a hopeless optimist.

We're into minute 15, and I have a separate timer sitting beside me counting down the time left on a batch of rice pudding that I mixed up during the pregame show.  I also cleaned my whole kitchen at that time.  It seemed the thing to do.

I was in the middle of washing up last night's pots and pans when it came time for the national anthems.  I stopped, cut off the water, and walked into the living room to hear it.  There is something about hearing a stadium full of people singing "The Star Spangled Banner" that gives me both goosebumps and tears.  At the very end, that last phrase, "home of the free, and the land of the brave," seemed to sum up what we are all about here in Brazil.

We are not a soccer superpower.  We aren't jaded when we show up here.  Other countries have accused us of being fake underdogs.   They say we have money, power, economic status.  How can we possibly be an underdog anymore?  Announcer and journalist eyes roll.  Snide memes proliferate.

I think America is always going to be the underdog, though.  Despite our status, whatever it may be in this current world, I'm not sure we are ever going to get over being the new guy at the party, the nouveau riche guy who came from humble origins and sometimes can't quite figure out how he got there in the first place.  He's not quite sure of the etiquette.  Maybe he doesn't feel comfortable in the clothes.  However, he's here now, and he's going to do the best with it he can.

I'm not sure why the rest of the world seems to resent us so much for this.  We have traditionally demonstrated the trait of working hard to achieve a goal, even when it didn't seem possible.  I think America has always been at her best when things come down to the rock-and-hard-place moments.  It brings something out in us that we don't always see at other times.  There is a relief in being able to roll up the sleeves, lay hands on the obstacle, and work to remove it.

And shouldn't everybody feel that way?  What does a team or even a private individual show up for if the plan isn't to give everything, to do the best you can?

Undoubtedly, I'm just a product of my national point-of-view. Maybe it sounds naive or idealistic, and I'm sure it is in some ways.  However, that's very American, too.

I don't know if we will win this, get the draw, or go through.  I hope whatever the outcome may be that we will be able to leave with a feeling of satisfaction at our effort.