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For the first time in 32 years, the United States men’s soccer team will be playing a World Cup game on home soil Friday night.
The popularity of the sport in the U.S. changed dramatically following the 1994 World Cup, due largely to the Stars and Stripes making it to the knockout round for the first time since 1934. It could be déjà vu this year (the New York Knicks were in the NBA Finals the last time the U.S. hosted), as this year’s team is probably the best in recent memory.
Now, team legends Landon Donovan and Tim Howard aren’t going as far as to say they will win it all, but they are certainly not ruling out a “magical summer.”
“I’m not sure they’re capable of winning it. That’s probably reserved for about five teams in the world. But I do think they can have a magical summer where they go on a run, and they have magical moments, late goals, somebody becomes the darling of the team, and they capture the attention of the media and the supporters,” Howard recently told Fox News Digital.
“Of course, having a deep run is going to help the momentum, particularly because it’s at home and more people are going to be watching just simply because it’s in America.”
Both Howard and Donovan agreed that winning the group is the bare minimum, and then knockout play can become interesting.
“That game against Senegal (a 3-2 USA win on May 31) was what a Round of 32 game could look like, maybe even a Round of 16 game. There were a bunch of changes, it was hot, both teams haven’t been together a long time yet, so I’m not putting too much into the result,” a cautiously optimistic Donovan said. “I’m just saying that’s the type of opponent and the type of game you could get. We can absolutely win that game. And I would say we’re favored in games like that. Or at home, if our team’s playing well…
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“Then you get to a Round of 16, and that’s where you get a Belgium, or a Portugal, or someone like that. And the challenge is, as we saw a month and a half ago when they played Belgium and Portugal, and they struggled mightily. If the spirit and the effort is what it was against Senegal, we can absolutely beat those teams too. We won’t be favored, but we can absolutely beat those teams, no question.”
Howard said if the U.S. wants to get into the quarterfinals, it will have to beat a “bully” in the Round of 16.
“That’s easy on paper. A lot of things have to happen,” Howard warned.
But both former stars believe it is possible.
“I think this is a really talented team. Can they come together, all play their best soccer at the same time? We’ll see. But I do think they have the potential to do that,” Howard said.
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Donovan, though, did take it a slight step forward.
“They are capable of it. I am expecting a deep run into the tournament. I am.”
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