SEATTLE — There comes a moment in every World Cup when the fence-sitters finally tumble off. The cautious and the indifferent suddenly morph into the obsessed. They buy the jerseys, paint their faces, and rearrange their lives around kickoff times. They become the kind of people who explain the offside rule to anyone within earshot. The bandwagon groans under the weight of new believers, and the whole country gets swept into a wild, joyful ride.
If you’re not hooked on the U.S. men’s national team after their 2-0 dismantling of Australia on Friday, June 19, you’re about to miss the party of the summer. The Americans won their second straight game in commanding style, tearing apart a solid Australian side with ruthless efficiency.
This team is electric. They’ve already scored six goals in two games—just one shy of the U.S. record for an entire World Cup. They’re opportunistic, opening the scoring with an own goal for the second match in a row. They’ve got the kind of grit that makes American sports fans stand up and cheer.
Take Alex Freeman. He spent several minutes on the turf late in the first half after a brutal collision with Paul Okun-Engstler. Five minutes later, he was nodding home a deflected Sergino Dest free kick to make it 2-0. Tyler Adams got body-slammed so many times he might have wondered if he’d wandered into a WWE ring. Folarin Balogun will be icing his bruises for days after the Aussies’ aggressive—and that’s putting it kindly—defending.
But instead of complaining or folding, the Americans kept fighting. They showed the tenacity manager Mauricio Pochettino demanded when these teams met last fall. The reward? A spot in the knockout rounds, with top of Group D ripe for the taking.
The crowd at Lumen Field felt something brewing. When the final whistle blew, they serenaded the USMNT with a full-throated rendition of “Livin’ on a Prayer”—the anthem of improbable runs.
Sure, the skeptics will say the U.S. hasn’t faced anyone “good” yet. Paraguay and Australia aren’t Argentina or Spain, but they’re no pushovers either. The USMNT didn’t get to feast on minnows like Qatar or Tunisia. They faced experienced, solid teams and walked away with maximum points.
Momentum is a dangerous thing. Once it starts rolling, anything can happen. Few predicted the U.S. run in 2002, when an opening upset of Portugal fueled a quarterfinal charge—and honestly, it should have been the semis.
Now, the U.S. will be the crowd favorite in every game on home soil. Get on a roll with the whole country behind them, and who knows how far they can go.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.
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