Well, right now, I'm pretty much numb from antipicipation... and I still have to wait 5 more days before our USA side takes on Portugal in what I will call, in the reactionary tradition of purple sports journalism, the biggest game yet in USA soccer history.

That's right, France kicks off against Senegal in a mere... 14 hours! 4:30 local time, tommorrow morning, the World Cupp 2002 Japan/Korea begins. It's the biggest sporting event in the world, with the dreams, and reputations, of entire nations on the line.

Here in the US we are oddly removed from it all, and tend to take an elitist "well, isn't that cute" attitude, smacking of our blatant hipicrosy as a sports-mad nation where it is perfectly acceptable to live vicariously through college football who aren't even getting paid. We wrote the book on flag-waving jingoism, so its about time we stop treating the Mondial as a quaint little affair and treated it with the respect it deserves.

But then again, it would help if we had a contending team. It would shock many to know that the latest FIFA rankings have the USA placed 13, just behind eternal heavyweights Germany and England. Most of Europe is still likely to ignore all this and still treat us like the pretenders we behave as, and who can blame them: we can't seem to beat a European side, no matter what the circumstances, and the ho-hum attitude we take to our "football" hardly inspires trepidation, which can be every bit as important to internation soccer as prima-donna strikers diving in the penalty area.

But we Have a team, and only the lack of faith seems to keep them away from accomplishing anything. The Faith of a country, the belief of nation that the World Championship is their manifest destiny trickles down to the players, and if you think that is silly, i can present a slew of past Cup performances to back it. Weird things happen on the pitch, and I've seen hopeful blasts willed into the net, and errant chances willed wide, by millions of people -- just the same way New England (as a region, not a team) willed Vinatieri's kick through the uprights.

The USA team Should advance, and to not hope for, ore even expect, a good result against Portugal, ranked 6th by FIFA and the Hot thing in Europe right now -- other than defending champs France -- is ultimately self-destructing. The remaining matches, against host South Korea and Poland, should be approached as games to be won. Both teams lie outside the top 32 rankings, with Korea in as an automatic bid for the host, and Poland having a great go of it in always tough European qualifying. The point is, we are Better than either of those teams, and to make excuses like "Korea will play as a tough road game" and "We never perform well against European sides" is folly. We are only cheating ourselves.

Portugal is an attacking side, and assuming all-galaxy playmaking midfielder magician Luis Figo is properly rejuvanated, will feature a dynamic team capable of scoring goals in gobs. The USA has some of the best goaltending in the tournament, and will, and should, lean on this heavily. An attacking style is called for here. Fight fire with fire. Roll the dice and go for it. Past wisdom would have the USA coming out defensively and passively, hoping to absorb pressure and hope to get lucky. It will be ME you hear screaming in the middle of the night if this happens. Let, or make, Friedel or Keller stand on their heads to keep you in it... that;s what we Have them for, after all. After goal differential, the next tiebreaker is goals scored. Go get some!
My (hopelessly, blindly optomistic) pick: USA 2, Portugal 2 1 pt each

South Korea has the pressure, baby, and will be a live wire, they will come out charged, pressing, aggresive... hoepfully to a fault. THIS is when you hang back and let it come to you. Ready the counterattack, let the kids up front (Mathis, Donovan, Wolff, et al.) show their stuff to the world. It's time for the playmaking midfielders: Reyna, Stewart, Jones, to get their defensive schwerve ON, and work those balls up the field. It't time for our world-class netminding to prove Portugal was no fluke. Just remember one thing: We are Better than Korea, so play like it!
My pick: USA 2, Korea 1 3 pts

Poland will be tough to figure. They must be good, you can't qualify out of Europe and not have Something going for you. They are led by a Nigerian-born striker and strong goaltending. It seems they are one fo those teams that can be as good as anyone... or just plain mediocre. How this plays out depends a lot on what the teams need to advance. If the USA comes in with 4 pts, they will be looking not to lose, and Poland may need a win, or, in the best case scenario, may already be mathematically out of it. Whatever happens, we have no reason to accept a loss.
My pick: USA 1, Poland 1 1 pt

USA finsishes second in pool D with 5 points, advancing to play group G winner (probably Italy)