USA 1 Algeria 0

The local TV stations here are apparently still back in the '50's in terms of satellite feeds. As a result they are only able to show one game at a time during the third phase of group play when two matches are played simultaneously. They have advertised for a month that we would see all 64 games live but apparently forget to notice that there are 8 games played simultaneously and if their third world set up cant get more than one satellite feed then they would have to show on tape delay one of the games even with two stations available to carry games. With so many Englanders on island there was no question which game they would carry live this morning at 9:00 a.m. local time and it wasn't the USA.

As a result, I got up early and headed over to the sportsbar that I normally find myself at on Saturdays in the fall to watch the Horns play. The bar was already open when I arrived around 8:45 and quickly filled with both American and English fans. They split the bar so on one side they had the US match playing with audio for it and on the other England with its audio. They also had the other game showing on one or two TVs on each side so you could follow your match but keep an eye on the other.

When England scored early on in their match it became clear that the US would have to win to advance. The Americans had a goal disallowed and missed a ton of chances. You could tell the mood in the bar was getting more and more depressed on the American side as the clock ticked down and chance after chance went awry. At the 90 minute mark it was still a scoreless draw and it looked like the US would crash out of the cup and we would all go home disappointed. The English fans were pretty clearly hoping for a US draw which would mean that they would top the group. So, while not exactly cheering for Algeria they were certainly not rooting on the Yanks. Then, in the 91st minute (into injury time) the Americans got a breakaway and Landon Donovan got a rebound goal and I swear you could hear the roar from the US fans in the bar throughout the island. It was incredible! The US 1-0 victory combined with England's 1 nil win over Slovenia meant both teams advance so no one left the bar sad but with the US now topping the group the American fans definitely left with a greater sense of elation not just at the last minute goal that saved them from elimination but at winning the group and hopefully avoiding Germany in the round of 16. With this win the US advance to play Saturday in the round of 16 and I will be right back at the same bar to watch the match hoping for a similar result.