Today's Awesome Soccer Videos

Welcome to the inaugural post on Bossing the Midfield, as well as the inaugural edition of Today's Awesome Soccer Videos.

In honor of the pending match between the United States and England, today's video theme is "America is AWESOME."





At journalism school, they taught me to always lead with your strongest . . . thing. I think. I don't know, I never actually went to journalism school. But I would argue that the 2-0 victory over Mexico in the 2002 World Cup is the greatest moment in American soccer history. Sure, we got lucky and beat England that one time a million years ago, but this was the first moment where Project 2010 stopped sounding like a Jerry Bruckheimer movie and starting sounding like a realistic plan.

(I reserve the right to remove that last sentence pending the results of Wednesday's games)



Another US-Mexico game? Yes. And while not as significant as the first video, there's more to this goal than meets the eye.

The victory over Mexico in the finals of the Gold Cup was nice because we got a big, shiny trophy, but it was more than that. This was the first major tournament for the USMNT after the travesty that was Germany 2006, and it was important to see the US bounce back from a disappointing WC performance. This was also the showcase for the next generation of American soccer; not just new players, like goalscorer Benny "I'm Technically Brazilian but America is Awesome" Feilhaber, but a new coach. Bruce Arena stepped down after the '06 World Cup, and after months of speculation and hope that a fancy-pants European (like Jurgen Klinsmann) would take the helm, Bradley's appointment as head coach was, well, anti-climactic. Another American coach who had made his bones in the MLS? I, for one, was skeptical. The win in the Gold Cup showed that he was legit - at least against CONCACAF opposition.



This last video is long, but worth it. Another victory over Mexico, this game was played in February of 2001 as the U.S. marched towards the 2002 World Cup (see first video). Columbus, Ohio, my home town, hosted the game Crew Stadium, the first soccer-specific stadium in the country. Columbus was selected not only for the stadium, but for the fact that the weather in Columbus was quite different than in Mexico City. Referred to as "La Guerra Fria" (the Cold War) the memory of this game still stings Mexican fans.

Plus, James and I were there, and it was incredible. Cold, but incredible.

Hope you enjoy the videos and they get you pumped up for the USA-Algeria game today. Any other videos you'd like to see? Let us know in the comments!