I am a soccer fan.

courtesy of espn.com

I always have been, and I always will be. Without a doubt.

I played for about 10 years, or more specifically, until a side-tackle in the first game of the TCIS finals caused me to tare my MCL, meniscus, and chip my patella in 3 places. I haven't been able to bend a ball without pain since.

Needless to say, the World Cup is (usually) my favorite month. My inner soccer nerd comes out, I glue myself to a television screen, I scream like a madwoman, and I remember what it used to feel like to be out there on the pitch. I was never going to get to professional level, I know that, but college? Absolutely.

So when I watch a match like the USA-Slovenia one yesterday, I become more irate than any other normal person because I can understand how hard those men work, how much they love the sport, how much they want to feel that win. If you need a recap of the atrocity:

Courtesy of Jozy and Landon, we came back (in a World Cup first) from a 2-point negative in the second half and tied the game up 2-2. No, we shouldn't have had to be the come-back kids, but we were, so it was great. Bob Bradley must have whispered some words of wisdom, because we looked like a new team out on the pitch, come minute 46. Then in the last minutes of the half, on a free kick, we score the perfect third goal to give the US the win. And then the ref (Koman Coulibaly) called a foul and discarded the point. Now the catch it, there was no visible foul: no off-sides, no penalty, no bloodshed. So we were forced to settle for a tie when we deserved the win. It was a dirty call in what should have been a brilliant turn-around from the US, and it killed me.

I watched the match via Slingbox while in my office, and it would be an understatement to call my reaction loud. But why? People say that it's just a game, another sporting event, but it isn't.

The World Cup is the largest sporting event in the world and we are barely a pinpoint on that map. We are known for not rising above the groups and being embarrassed by the likes of England and Italy. But this year? No, we aren't great, but we're better than we've been. No, we shouldn't have let those 2 goals pass by in the first place, but people forget that our Keeper broke his ribs in the opening match but is still playing. A win, or even an advance, would help put us on the same level as the other European sporting countries, as apposed to just a shrimp on the playground. It's a way to boost patriotism and national pride, and couldn't we all use a little more of that?

To put it in a nut shell, Landon Donovan said it perfectly in an interview after the match: "You can't take away a good goal from a team."

Because it will crush them.