Quite Impressive, But Not Done Yet

It felt like a loss for the US Men in their second game of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. After starting poorly, and going down early to the European Champion Netherland side, the Americans showed will, determination, and grit to come back and grab the lead from the Flying Oranje with goals from Sacha Kljestan, and Jozy Altidore. But a late foul near the edge of the penalty area gave the Dutch the opportunity they needed, and showed class by capitalizing on the mistake.

Freddy Adu quoted it well, saying the Americans came out scared,"Me personally, I got mad. I was like, 'We can play with these guys.' I had seen our guys day in and day out. ... These guys [from Holland] aren't gods."

This is the kind of attitude we're looking for out of these new age American players, and we're increasingly seeing more of this "We're just as good, if not better than the rest of the world" attitude. It's this kind of mentality from the younger players that will propel this country to bigger and better things in the Soccer world.

So well done to the guys, but the job is certainly not done. It will still take some work to do, a loss from the Netherlands, and/or any result from the Nigeria match will see the Americans through.