It's those plucky Americans and a team many are picking as a dark horse to win the whole shebang, Portugal. I don't think the Americans were plucky at this point yet though. More just a team you roll over.

South Korea, the hosts, has already beaten Poland, meaning a loss for either of these teams leaves them a long ways back if they want to make it out of the group stage.

Referee Byron Moreno from Ecuador looks like he's ready to teach 10th grade math.

Guus Hiddink gets a massive cheer from the South Koreans in attendance when they show him on the video board, having just beaten Poland to begin the World Cup. How would that reception differ from the one he would get in Russia right now?

A USA chant before the kick off? Why don't I remember that? Could it be that I was 13 and it was 3 am?

Here's the starting XI for Portugal:

-----------------------Pauleta--------------------------------

---------------------------Joao Pinto------------------------

-----Figo------Petit----------Rui Costa----Conceicao----

---Rio Jorge----Jorge Costa-----Couto----------Beto----

---------------------------Baia-------------------------------

Here's the USA's starting XI:

-------------Donovan-------------McBride----------------

---Beasley-----Mastroeni----O'Brien-------Stewart----

---Hejduk-------Agoos-------Pope---------Sanneh------

---------------------------Friedel----------------------------

1st minute: It doesn't take long for the Portuguese to get some possession, but it comes in the center of the field as the Portuguese try to get clever entering the final third and an organized American defense snuffs it out.

2nd minute: I've got the BBC broadcast of the match and it took them a whole two minutes to note the youth of Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley. This comes as the USA defense goes with their money move. Boot it up field with no regard for its direction. Drinking game idea! Drink every time a US defender has time and just lets it fly up field.

3rd minute: Brian McBride draws a foul 40 yards from goal as he goes up for a header. To this point, he is Brian Ching. If he ever finds the net, that analogy goes away.

4th minute: GOAL USA! The free kick earned by McBride turns into a corner kick and Earnie Stewart plays it in, where it's headed on goal by McBride. It's saved, but falls to John O'Brien who makes no mistake with it as he blasts it in.  Uh oh, the heavy favorite are in trouble and how do they respond to the goal? By staring and yelling at each other obviously! Teams score on set pieces. It happens, get over it. If you want to yell and scream, figure out why you're giving away fouls 40 yards from goal.

6th minute: Donovan and Beasley combine well to draw a free kick from 23 yards out. Beasley is playing well for Rangers right now and if Stuart Holden goes to Europe, only to get planted on the bench, Beasley may find a way into the starting XI in South Africa. Could we see the Donovan/Beasley combination get going yet again or will we watch a square ball on a corner go under Beasley's foot?

7th minute: Stewart plays a good ball in from the free kick Beasley drew, but Baia makes a hash of it, unnecessarily punching it when it could have been caught as no American makes a run. It's punched off of Donovan's foot and a foot wide of the post. That said, the English would love Baia to put between the sticks this summer. Heck, they might want me.

9th minute: We are informed by the announcers that the referee, Moreno, is a law student, but he is having issues maintaining order here. The wall doesn't have to be very far back following a foul call on the Americans according to Moreno and then on the kick, he gives the Yanks a kick because...well he said so. Yes teacher.

11th minute: Figo gets another crack at a free kick, this time from about 40 yards out and angled. The ball is a good one, but headed harmlessly wide. Playing balls in is much easier without a pig's head on the field.

12th minute: Hejduk gives it a boot...drink!

13th minute: O'Brien plays a ball clear across the field, but nobody is coming forward into space there. A fantastic idea, but no one on this team, or on any US team since, has the ability to read the action the way O'Brien does.

14th minute: The first real Portuguese attack as Pauleta is found alone from eight yards, but a last second challenge from Eddie Pope forces Pauleta to put it wide. The Americans are going the other way quickly and a bal over the top sends Beasley in, but Baia is off his line by about 25 yards to get to it before the Fort Wayne, Indiana native.

15th minute: Beasley continues to be a pest, this time darting in with the ball and drawing a free kick from 40 yards out again in the same spot as the Americans got in the third. Stewart does a poor job with the kick, but the Americans had only two men forward so it was doubtful the ball mattered anyways.

16th minute: A great one-two between Stewart and O'Brien forces Baia 20 yards off his line again to clear it with his feet.

17th minute: For all the criticism the Portuguese caught for this underwhelming World Cup performance, you just credit them for being ahead of their time. They were diving and going down like they were hit by a sniper as a team long before it was fashionable.

18th minute: A blazing run by Donovan lets him play a ball across that Portugal puts out for a corner kick. It's Stewart again and Baia is off his line to punch it out. Baia has played the ball five times in 18 minutes. Usually a bad sign when your keeper has to play the ball so often.

19th minute: Hejduk with another boot...drink!

20th minute: This deep into a match and Brad Friedel has yet to make a save. What were the odds on that prior to the match?

21st minute: Donovan makes waste of a chance from 18 yards out, but he has a clear chance at goal as two Portugal defenders just watch. It's nice to know they're working as hard as I am.

22nd minute: BBC announcers say Pope plays in the Major Soccer League. It's amazing how many leagues come about so quickly. Meanwhile, Pauleta's next headed attempt from eight yards out goes a couple yards wide of the post. His consistency is amazing.

24th minute: Beasley chases down a ball all the way to the corner flag. Two observations. 1) Imagine if Beasley could show that same pace in South Africa with competent play on the ball. 2) What would Bob Marley have said about Hejduk's short, bleached blonde hair?

25th minute: Friedel is in fact playing in this match. He comes out to the six-yard box to calmly collect a long ball. At least he's no sleeping.

26th minute: As Portugal plays a ball to no one and out of touch, the visibly upset Figo comes onto the screen. Is it because he realized that this team isn't that good or because if the US supporters are to chant USA in another language, it should be Portuguese and not Spanish on this day?

28 minute: Beasley gets the ball right in the center of the field and runs right at the Portuguese defense. Would we ever see such interchanging and movement from a US team under Bob Bradley?

29th minute: GOAL USA! It's Landon Donovan with a cross that clips the back of Jorge Costa and finds its way into the net. As someone who was never very good, I think that I would know best here. Lucky is better than good. It took 29 minutes for the US to score more goals in the '02 Cup than they scored in the entire '98 Cup, although if Bruce Arena tried a 3-6-1 versus Portugal, the US would have at least four by now.

30th minute: Pope goes down for a minute after a high boot catches him on the thigh. Meanwhile, US fans chant "overrated." Is there any worse chant in sports? Instead, let's chant, "We're not really that good! You guys just suck!"

31st minute: It's a Portugal attack! A few stopovers lead to nothing and the US isn't troubled. I think Eddie Johnson was a Portugal fan back in '02.

33rd minute: A Portugal defender goes down, letting Donovan get free on the left and cross a ball that Baia does well to get off his line and catch. Don't blame the Portuguese in this match. Blame the turf.

34th minute: Beto gets a yellow for diving and it's well deserved.

35th minute: O'Brien beats his man from 25 yards out, dribbles along the left side of the 18 yard box and crosses to Stewart, whose shot is right at Baia. Seriously, I want John O'Brien back now. Donovan is undoubtedly the United States' greatest player, but he holds that distinction because O'Brien couldn't stay healthy and that is all.

36th minute: GOAL USA! I need a new comparison because Brian McBride scores on a beautiful diving header, making him far more useful than the McBride wannabe, Brian Ching. The header was the finish of a beautiful Tony Sanneh cross, who is never mentioned enough when people talk about the '02 US team. He was sensational and his performance versus Germany in the quarterfinals is best I've ever seen from a US defender.

37th minute: Okay, drink. No, A US defender didn't boot a ball, but I brought up the Germany match, which forces us to all drink.

39th minute: GOAL PORTUGAL! A Portugal corner is poorly cleared and ends up on Beto's right foot, eight yards away. He hammers it past Friedel, who is still without a save, but this goal could not be attributed to him.

41st minute: Drink. The US defense didn't boot it, but only because they whiffed on their attempted boot. It counts.

42nd minute: Why did I take Spanish in high school? I should have gone with Korean so I could understand these chants. I'll go out on a limb and guess that they're chanting what I'm thinking. "You're up 3-1, stop panicking!"

44th minute: Portugal plays their fourth cross into the box since their goal, all of which did not make it on frame. The US should not make it to halftime still ahead 3-1, but poor Portuguese finishing is their friend at the moment.

45th minute: A graphic informs us that Portugal has had 54% of possession, which is thanks to 98% of possession in the last eight minutes.

45+1: The US has remembered what it's like to be seven years old. See the ball, run to it. It makes for some enjoyable defending if you're Portuguese. On cue, Portugal gets a corner kick, which saw three Americans marking one because he was in the middle of the field. Good thinking.

45+1: A shot from 20 yards out beats Friedel, but misses the far post by inches. Imagine if that goes in and the US is only ahead 3-2 at half. Do they lose the match? Do they make it out of the group stage? Do they get the chance to beat Mexico and get the mental edge over the Mexicans? How do the next seven years of US soccer play out?

45+2: Drink! It's Pope this time.

Halftime: The US could have been ahead by four or five at the 36th minute, but Portugal should have also made it 3-2 easily in the final few of the half. Cobi Jones is the only substitute for either side as he comes on for Stewart,

46th minute: A boot, drink.

48th minute: McBride draws yet another foul, this time near the sideline, about 35 yards away. O'Brien plays it in and it looks harmless as Baia comes across to nab it, but three feet lower and there are three Yanks there to put it in the net. Just another reminder of how there are so many little things that change a play, change a match and if we want to summon the 2006 ESPN World Cup commercials, change a nation.

50th minute: Portugal's lineup is filled with skilled players who are phenomenal on the ball, but every time they begin to establish a modicum of possession, someone tries something audacious and flat out stupid. I get the feeling that we could see that from Argentina in South Africa.

52nd minute: It's McBride drawing yet another foul, this time straight away from 20 yards away. A fantastic scoring opportunity here for the Yanks. Can you imagine the handful Jozy Altidore can be if he learns to position himself and draw fouls like McBride? He certainly has the body to do it.

53rd minute: Roberto Carlos got a lot of talk coming into the '02 Cup so Jeff Agoos, the lefty, decides to do his best impression and it was truly the best he could do...five yards over the bar on a rocket.

54th minute: What should have been a 3 v 1 break for the US comes to a screeching halt because Jones decides to hold the ball up. Isn't that Eddie Johnson's job?

55th minute: Donovan is clear past the defense chasing down a good ball over the top, but Baia is there to head it away 22 yards off his line. Not sure how so many people could have overlooked the cement footed Portugal defenders prior to the World Cup.

56th minute: A Portugal corner is poorly marked by the US and Rui Costa has a chance to turn and fire from three yards out, but Friedel gets off his line and muscles Costa away, forcing him to put the ball wide. A break for the US and timely keeping from Friedel.

57th minute: The US fires down the other way and yet again, the Portugal defense is outrun by Donovan who fires inches wide of the far post. So close for Donovan. He's often ridiculed for his hairline, but for a guy balding the way he is, it hasn't gotten too much worse in the last seven years.

59th minute: Portugal gets a chance from 30 yards out and it has to go to Figo, right? Wrong. Figo doesn't take the kick, it goes well over the bar and the Lakers just let Adam Morrison take the final shot of a game instead of Kobe.

62nd minute: A cross is played perfectly onto the head of a Portuguese player five yards away from goal, but he heads it backwards. Yes, backwards. To make such a mistake is something I thought only I could do. I guess I'm not as uniquely talented as I thought.

63rd minute: Figo unlocks the US defense with a beautiful through ball, but his teammate takes a dreadful touch and Friedel gets off his line to grab the ball. Portugal just missed two golden chances.

64th minute: Another perfect cross by Portugal has the US scrambling and they resort to...you guessed it, a boot with no one around. Drink.

65th minute: I don't think anyone has made the connection, but Fernando Torres' hair is undoubtedly homage to the early 2000's. The long, stringy and always wet-looking hair was all the rage at this World Cup. That is, if you didn't go with the Mohawk or inexplicable singular patch ala Ronaldo.

67th minute: The US has now played this far into a match and Pablo Mastroeni hasn't committed a foul that even sniffs of a yellow card. At this point I should have known that the soccer gods were on the side of the US.

68th minute: Nobody within ten yards of him, but Agoos goes with the boot. Drink.

69th minute: Agoos plays the ball to the guys in red. Unfortunately, his guys are in white. It turns into a chance for Pauleta from the top of the box, but the pass to him sits up at his chest and makes the finish extremely difficult. He puts it over the bar. Agoos caught a break and Portugal makes a change as Paulo Bento comes on for Rui Jorge.

70th minute: The US plays an offside trap to perfection, but the flag stays down. Luckily, Friedel got off his line to force a shot wide. They show the assistant referee who responds with a shrug. It truly inspires confidence.

71st minute: GOAL PORTUGAL! That whole red and white thing gets to Agoos again. A cross is played in that should have been played out of touch without problem, but Agoos puts the ball perfectly into the corner of the net. It's an own goal as Agoos' disastrous half continues. The US lead is only 3-2 now and all of America is having nightmares. The 49 people awake watching the match are, as are the rest who are sleeping (and at this point, it looks like the smarter decision as it can only get worse now).

73rd minute: Portugal makes their second change as Jorge Andrade comes on for Jorge Costa. A defender for a defender at this point is a bit curious.

75th minute: Agoos is out of position again, but Sanneh is back to clear a dangerous cross away for a corner kick, which Portugal wastes. Sanneh saves the US again and Bruce Arena brings on Joe Max Moore for Donovan.

76 minute: Beasley went quiet for a while, which is to be expected when his team doesn't have any spell of possession in the attacking end for 25 minutes, but he gets the bal on the run here and draws another foul. Will any US player draw as many fouls in the entire 2010 Cup as Beasley or McBride did in this match?

78th minute: The US gives away another free kick, this one from near the corner, but it is well cleared by Sanneh. Yes, I am reviving a man crush.

80th minute: Each side makes their final substitution. Pope is hurt so he comes off for Carlos Llmosa and Portugal brings on Nuno Gomes for Rui Costa.

81st minute: Portugal gets some possession again, but tries to push when there is nothing there and gives it away again. This will be Argentina in South Africa. Book it.

82nd minute: Baia was so often called upon early on, but he hasn't been asked to make a save in ages. At this point, even an English keeper couldn't catch any flack for what he's doing now.

84th minute: Joao Pinto has been so awful all match long. This time, he plays a cross that doesn't come within ten yards of anyone on either team.

85th minute: Sanneh with some style. Running back to the corner to pick up a missed long ball and with pressure behind him, he flicks it back up over his head and the Portuguese player, giving him time and space to play it forward.

86th minute: The US is five minutes and penalty time away from a massive upset. US fans have begun chanting "USA" and Korean fans begin chanting what I can only imagine is, "we have to play them next?"

88th minute: McBride draws another foul for good measure. While the Americans have a kick from 30 yards away, they choose to play it square and kill a minute of clock instead of taking a chance at goal.

89th minute: Now that they can see the finish line, the Yanks are showing the organization and calm that put them ahead in the first 35 minutes. None of the eight year old AYSO soccer that nearly doomed them earlier this half.

90th minute: Portugal break from their own end and Jones is five yards behind the ball, but he shows he still has some of that blistering speed and he makes a tremendous tackle that few remember, but all appreciate. Two minutes of extra time.

90+1: Donovan draws a foul near the corner flag and it's touched, then taken to the corner by Sanneh, who holds it for a bit and draws a throw. The throw is played out by Portugal for a US corner.

90+2: Portugal can't get possession as they continue to play long balls, but the whole bigger, taller, jump higher thing that the US has is making it ineffective. Beasley then takes it to the corner flag and earns a throw. Some time wasting him gets Beasley a yellow, but that can't darken what is arguably Beasley's best performance in a US shirt to this day.

USA WINS, 3-2! That's the match and the US bench clears onto the field to celebrate a win nobody expected...except for me of course. Yes, that's my story and I'm sticking by it.

Beasley was absolutely sensational all match long and it makes you wonder what the US can be in South Africa if he regains his form. He recent rejuvenation at Rangers gives us some hope, but he has an awful long ways to go. US fans should probably hope that he can come far enough along that he can play the role of substitute and spark out wide that Cobi Jones provided in 2002.

Let's revisit John O'Brien one more time. The guy is 32 now and would still be an option in South Africa, giving the Yanks the vision and touch that they sorely lack. He would have also likely pushed Claudio Reyna out of the starting XI in 2006 had he been healthy and that World Cup could have been very different as a result. I stand by my statement that if he remained healthy, O'Brien would have been the best player the US ever produced.

Again, I bring up the question, where is US soccer today without this match? It started the growth in interest in the national team, it allowed them to get to the knockout stages, beat Mexico, send some players overseas and had immeasurable impacts on the national team years down the road as a result.