Do You Believe In Miracles?

When you support mediocre teams like Bolton Wanderers, Daejeon Citizen, or the United States, there are very few moments of genuine joy. They aren't going to win major titles, and celebrating the Gold Cup or UEFA Cup qualification isn't the same as lifting the Champions League trophy or the World Cup. Sometimes the joy you get comes from heroic upsets: good examples include the USA's victory over Spain in the Confederations Cup, or Bolton's 1-0 win over Manchester United in 2007, or Daejeon's 2-1 victory over the hated Seongnam.

The happiest moment I've had as a football fan was more the result of something that DIDN'T happen, rather than something that did. Back in the 07-08 season it seemed certain that Bolton would get relegated. Instead, we went on a tremendous run of form in the last five games, and a win over Sunderland made us all but safe. As our second goal went in - an 80th minute own goal from a Sunderland defender - I literally cried tears of happiness. Brenda was justifiably confused ("You realize you're celebrating 16th place?") but that is the lot of the supporter of a mediocre team. You take your kicks where you can get them.

As long as I live, I don't know that anything will match the feeling I had in the game between the USA and Algeria. In the 90th minute, I was depressed and furious. Just like in 2006, the referees seemed to have ended our chance of moving out of the group. There was the inexplicably disallowed goal against Slovenia, which brought unanimous condemnation from pundits and action from FIFA against the referee in question. Again, in the Algeria game, a perfectly good goal from Dempsey was disallowed. I would like a statistician to calculate the chance that a team will have good goals wrongly disallowed in two consecutive games.

The referees weren't entirely to blame. The USA was playing badly, despite dominating possession. Donovan was constantly cutting back instead of using his pace to go forward. Cherundolo, who I usually consider one of the most underrated players in the world, was bad defensively. Altidore blazed over shockingly when presented with an open goal, and Dempsey was guilty of a miss that wasn't much better. While we deserved to win - we put the ball in the net for God's sake - we simply weren't very good.

All that changed in injury time. After a rare Algerian attack, the USA broke with 4 against 2. It seemed inevitable that we would score, but we almost cocked it up again. Altidore fed Dempsey whose shot was parried by the keeper . . . straight to Donovan, who scored the latest of winners. The players piled on top of each other. The crowd went nuts. Beer was sprayed. Strangers high-fives and hugged. People celebrated so vociferously that they fell down several rows of seats (but were OK).

I have to say, Algeria and their fans behaved in a repugnant fashion. Before the game I was impressed by a colorful parade of Algerians atop their cars, waving and wishing us good luck. After the winner, their fans disappointed me by throwing things onto the field. Look, if we didn't do it after the Edu non-goal incident, they had no right to do it. Also, friends who watched the game on TV said Algeria's players behaved like animals, punching and elbowing the USA frequently. A player was sent off after the goal. Now, Algerian player Rafik Saifi is accused of slapping a female journalist.

Apart from that, their general approach to the game was embarrassing. A draw wouldn't have been enough to see them through to the next round. They needed to win, but they showed almost zero attacking intent. It was like stifling the "Great Satan" and keeping us from moving on was more important than taking risks and trying to move on themselves. They deserved nothing from the game, except possibly a ban for their fans.

But it's not right to end this on a negative note. The good feelings lasted for hours after the match. "USA" chants rang out outside the stadium. Flags were waved vigorously. South Africans congratulated us all along our walk to the train station. We were SECONDS away from being eliminated. Instead, not only did we qualify, but we finished top of the group! Ahead of England! Despite getting screwed by the referees on two separate occasions! To go from the depths of football depression to the heights of football joy in just a few seconds . . . you just don't get that every day.

Bring on Ghana! It's time for revenge.