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The US had the biggest opportunity in the history of American soccer. They wasted it | Alexander Abnos
The USMNT’s run at a home World Cup had attracted people who usually ignore soccer. Instead of triumph, they saw a humbling at the hands of Belgium In the closing moments of the United States’ 3-2 win over Portugal at the 2002 World Cup, ESPN commentator Jack Edwards took a moment to remind viewers who had stayed up all night of the profound result they were witnessing. From his perch in Suwon, South Korea – where he was watching the first match of a campaign that would end in a quarter-final that remains the high-water mark for the modern US men’s national team – Edwards delivered a soliloquy that cut straight to the heart of the profound role World Cups play not just for the US men’s national team, but for soccer as a force in American life. “The players on that 1950 team that beat England … this [result] is about the foundation that they laid,” Edwards said in his booming bravado as t
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The USMNT’s run at a home World Cup had attracted people who usually ignore soccer. Instead of triumph, they saw a humbling at the hands of Belgium In the closing moments of the United States’ 3-2 win over Portugal at the 2002 World Cup, ESPN commentator Jack Edwards took a moment to remind viewers who had stayed up all night of the profound result they were witnessing. From his perch in Suwon, South Korea – where he was watching the first match of a campaign that would end in a quarter-final that remains the high-water mark for the modern US men’s national team – Edwards delivered a soliloquy that cut straight to the heart of the profound role World Cups play not just for the US men’s national team, but for soccer as a force in American life. “The players on that 1950 team that beat England … this [result] is about the foundation that they laid,” Edwards said in his booming bravado as t
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According to The Guardian’s linked source, The US had the biggest opportunity in the history of American soccer. They wasted it | Alexander Abnos, The USMNT’s run at a home World Cup had attracted people who usually ignore soccer. Instead of triumph, they saw a humbling at the hands of Belgium In the closing moments of the United States’ 3-2 win over Portugal at the 2002 World Cup, ESPN commentator Jack Edwards took a moment to remind viewers who had stayed up all night of the profound result they were witnessing. From his perch in Suwon, South Korea – where he was watching the first match of a campaign that would end in a quarter-final that remains the high-water mark for the modern US men’s national team – Edwards delivered a soliloquy that cut straight to the heart of the profound role World Cups play not just for the US men’s national team, but for soccer as a force in American life. “The players on that 1950 team that beat England … this [result] is about the foundation that they laid,” Edwards said in his booming bravado as t
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Primary source: The US had the biggest opportunity in the history of American soccer. They wasted it | Alexander Abnos via The Guardian. VINI cites and links the source; it does not reproduce the publisher’s full article text without rights clearance.
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- The US had the biggest opportunity in the history of American soccer. They wasted it | Alexander AbnosThe Guardian - 2026-07-07T14:00:02+00:00
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