USA! USA! USA!

U.S. soccer, Landon Donovan, World Cup...it doesn't get much better than this ladies and gentlemen.

Soccer is my all time favorite sport to watch. Landon Donovan is my favorite player to watch. He's scored two goals so far this world cup, and his goal today sent our U.S. team into the finals. YEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!

I picked my dad and brother up at 5:45 am this morning so that the three of us could go watch the U.S. vs Algeria game at the British Crown & Anchor Pub in Thousand Oaks. We arrived at the Crown & Anchor at 6:20 am, and there was already a line formed at the gate, which would open at 6:30.

We got our place in line and tried to count how many people there were in front of us to determine whether or not we would get a seat at a table with a decent view of the game.

Then I tried to take a self portrait of the three of us, and failed miserably.

The atmosphere even outside the pub was exciting. People were wearing USA or England soccer jerseys (the pub would be showing the England match as well) and everyone was discussing the two teams' chances of making it out of Group C. I was nervous. I always get nervous before the start of a game that my heart is involved in.

When they opened the doors, we discovered that there was plenty of room for everyone. The bar they reserved for England watchers, so the US got the restaurant area with much more room. We sat down at a large table and offered for others to sit with us, including two of Hunter's friends from high school that we ran into in line.

The pub has a great atmosphere. Very British, very old-fashioned pubish.

Finally the Algerian and U.S. players came out onto the field. When our national anthem was sung, a bunch of people at the pub stood up with their hands over their hearts and sang along, including my dad, Hunter and me. Hunter and I had agreed that when the anthem was over, we would start a "USA! USA!" chant. We did, and it worked. The whole restaurant came alive with the chant, and we could feel the nerves and excitement in the air. It was awesome.

The game started with a near tragedy as Algeria made a shot at our goal within the first few minutes and barely missed, the ball hit the goal post. After that, the U.S. was on a mission to dominate the game, and dominate they did. Attack after attack and shot after shot that got tantalizingly close, until finally Clint Dempsey put the ball in their net. The whole pub erupted in applause and cheers, until we discovered that the ref had called the goal back because he thought it was offsides (it wasn't). Oh well.

Half time came and everyone breathed for a bit, discussing how the U.S. was playing and what they needed to do to get a win. They NEEDED to beat, not just tie, Algeria. It was the difference between moving on in the World Cup or their World Cup experience being over.

The second half started, and early on Donovan took a corner kick. As he was prepping for it, many people cheered for Donovan and yelled encouragements at the tv. Hunter and I started another "USA!" chant that again took off well in the restaurant.

Here is Hunter chanting:

Donovan's corner kick was anticlimactic, and we suffered through another 45 minutes of mouth-wateringly close shots by the U.S. The U.S. WANTED the win, it was evident, but the Algerian defense was putting up a good fight, and many of our shots were just simply wide or high. As the clock ticked closer and closer to 90 minutes, the U.S. began substituting offensive players for defensive...Buddle for Edu, Beasley for Bornstein. They weren't gonna stop attacking until they got their goal.

The clock reached 90 minutes. The refs announced 4 additional minutes of stoppage time, and the pub erupted in cheers and applause (4 minutes is a rather long amount of stoppage time for soccer, meaning more chances for goals).

The U.S. owned those four minutes. They made an assault on Algeria that resulted in Donovan blowing the ball into the net. 1-0. U.S.

The pub EXPLODED.

As you can see, the screaming and cheering lasted for quite some time. It was deafening. Ecstatic. It was elation. I was jumping up and down and screaming and trying to snap pictures and punching the air and screaming and screaming. So was everyone else, except for the taking pictures part.

Oh my goodness, my stomach still gets butterflies when I remember that moment. (Is that what it felt like in Heaven when Jesus rose from the dead?)

Algeria tried to make a counterattack but got too feisty and the ref blew the whistle against them. They were furious and in the ref's face, so the ref gave one of them a red card, and he was sent off the field. The pub erupted again in screaming, cheers, and applause.

Hahaha. :)

Time was called. The U.S. had won. More jumping up and down, more screaming, more cheers. Tears came to my eyes, but thankfully didn't make it out (how embarrassing).

On our way out to the car, one of our fellow game watchers saw me, pointed and said, "You were a wreck in there!"

"Who, me?" I asked.

"Yeah! You were so stressed and involved in the game!"

Yup, that's me.

And the U.S. goes on.

USA! USA! USA!

P.S. If you were wanting a review of the Crown & Anchor as a restaurant, I have one. On a scale of one to ten, it's atmosphere is a 9.5. It's food and service, however, is more like a 2 or a 3. My omelet this morning, for instance, still had uncooked eggwhites............GAG! And they gave me American bacon, not British bacon like I had asked for. I'm just being honest.