USA Soccer Team
The United States men's national soccer team
played its first international matches against Canada in 1885
and 1886; however, neither match is considered
official. It would be another 30 years before the US would
finally play an officially recognized international.
The USA's best performances at recent World
Cups have been a second-round appearance in 1994, when it
hosted the event, and a quarterfinal berth in 2002. They were
one of the major surprises at the 2002 event, stunning highly
fancied Portugal in group play, defeating continental rivals
Mexico in the second round, and narrowly losing to eventual
runner-up Germany in the quarterfinals.
For about a decade before the 2002 World Cup,
the US men's team was largely in the shadow of the country's
high-profile women's team. While the US men have not totally
escaped the women's shadow, they are now receiving more attention
from soccer fans at home. The US men are now a highly competitive
side, capable of playing with and occasionally defeating top
teams from the rest of the world. In recent years, the US
has become known for producing goalkeepers; three US keepers
started in the English Premier League in the 2003-04 season.
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