If you had told me yesterday that the US would be tied 1-1 with Poland at half-time, I would have questioned your sobriety and/or sanity. Amazingly that is how things played out this morning. Poland struck first, but the US responded when Nicolai drove a rocket into the lower right corner off a direct kick from well outside the box. I swear he hit it faster than his 57mph kick of yesterday (he agrees, citing the adrenaline rush of the moment). When the ball struck the back corner of the tubular goal frame, it rang out as if to declare, “we are here to win.” I will never forget that sound for as long as I live. Beyond equalizing the score, the goal inspired a belief in team USA that they had a chance of beating this world class team. For the final ten minutes of the half the US was on fire, dominating possession and unleashing a barrage of shots on goal. Unfortunately, the shell-shocked Polish squad regained their composure during the break and returned for the second half in prime form. When they scored again, we had nothing to lose by pushing our players forward in search of an equalizer. Losing by 10 would be no different than losing by 1 in this single elimination round. The team fought brilliantly, but in the end, Poland emerged with a well earned 3-1 victory. The team left the field with their heads held high, knowing they had done the US proud. Although our World Cup dreams have come to an end, the team will arrange friendly matches with other countries that have been eliminated. We are scheduled to play Germany tomorrow.

Later in the day we watched Russia play ¨the beautiful game,¨ demolishing Columbia by a score of 9-1. After a light dinner we returned to a capacity-filled stadium to watch Mexico play Argentina. When Burton and Tito left for the Copper Canyon, the US cheering section was cut in half. Compare that to the 3000 Mexican fans, team mascot (who plucked hairs from his gorilla suit and placed them on my head as I walked past to the delight of the crowd), and a pep band supporting their national team. Several members of the American contingent have decided that the next World Cup needs to be hosted in the US and today we will start working to that end. We also learned that many of the teams are state or commercially sponsored with paid, professional athletes. I would be happy if we could land one generous corporate sponsor who could cover the costs of travel so the team could practice with each other more than twice a year.