Bloodied, bruised, broken and strung out after three grueling battles, you emerged from the fray when all but a few had written you off. The odds were against you. The world was against you. But, your fans believed. And you believed.
As the sweat of the jungle poured from your aching limbs, you advanced across the pitch towards a fourth foe. You would not advance further.
Casualties took their toll and the probing speedy attacks finally found the chinks in your impressive armor, those weak spots where wars are truly fought and won, or lost. Even then you battled on, refusing to accept that all hope was lost. The odds were against you. The whole world was against you. Your fans believed. And you believed.
If there hadn’t been a time limit on this particular battle on this particular day you would have found a way to regain the ground you had lost.
So hold your heads high, be proud of what you accomplished. Enjoy the triumphs of your first battles. Revel in the glory of having succeeded where so many others would have and did fall. Care to your wounds. Spend time with your families. But, keep your swords sharp and your wits about you, because you will be called upon again.
And next time, though the odds will be against you, and the world will be against you. Your fans will believe. And you will believe. That love of the game, that passion, that never-say-die attitude matters more than the rest.
The Matticus Kingdom 
Reblogged this on Survivor and commented:
A great story…..!
So, who do you root for now, or do you just watch for the game itself at this point?
Watch for the spectacle of it all… while rooting for the Netherlands. They are the winningest team to have never won. I think it’s time for them to break that up.
If only the rest of the team had played with such heart from the very first minute.
A tough loss, but a classy one…as always.
Best,
Dani
I’m trying to decide if Klinsman told them to back off and let the Belgiums have the bulk of the attack so they could hit them on the counter, or if they just were truly tired and lacked the pace to run the game early on.
I have no idea, but it was heartbreaking. And Howard….seriously?!?!? What an amazing performance. They deserved to win based on him alone.
Four more years?!?!?
I’ll be waiting.
Impatiently.
Well, four more years for the next world cup. But, we will have a Summer Olympic games to look forward to before then. Plus, the US will be hosting the Copa America before then too. So, we’ll get to see our team back in action soon.
Yes, Howard had the game of his life. A truly fantastic, heroic performance.
I’m glad you thought so, too.
Sorry, I briefly tried, but I just couldn’t get into the soccer. Maybe in another four years…
Why wait four years?
There’s probably an MLS team somewhere near you. Plus, NBC is airing premier league games (or will as soon as the season starts again). And, there’s olympics in 2 years. And Gold Cup next year. And European Championships in 2 years. And then the US is hosting the next Copa America. And, qualifiers for Russia 2018 start in just over 2 years too. So, yeah, why wait? Plenty of soccer to watch in the mean time, and maybe, just maybe, if you follow along ahead of time it will pull you in that much more.
Or…no
To each their own.
Well said! For a team that no one was expecting much of, they did a hell of a job. And, the scenes from around the country of stadiums full of people watching the games — it was nice to see that as divided as we are in many ways, simple things can still bring us together.
We have a team here in Denver — the Colorado Rapids. The games show up on Univision, and on NBC Sports … I’m glad of the growing interest. I’ve liked soccer/futbol since I was a kid, but you could rarely ever find it on TV. I remember years ago the only time you could see World Cup games were taped games, showing at 2 or 3 in the morning.