When the United States failed to qualify for the World Cup in 1986, nobody cared. It was a time that columnists around the nation dismissed soccer as a sport that could never excite American fans with its scoreless ties and 1-0 results.
There was quite a different feeling last October when a disheartening 2-1 loss to Trinidad and Tobago knocked the U.S. men out of the 2018 World Cup. With the growth of soccer in the country — from the youth leagues to the professional level — and seven consecutive appearances in the World Cup, the national team attracted a strong following. One of its most thrilling victories was by a 1-0 score, when Landon Donovan’s strike against Algeria in the final seconds of extra time enabled the Americans to advance in the 2010 World Cup.
The very scarcity of goals, and the persistence and skill that it takes to create a scoring strike in the continuous ebb and flow of action, are what makes them so special.