Even before taking the field for Saturday's World Cup matchup with Ghana, the U.S. soccer team has accomplished something remarkable: They got a big slice of their fellow citizens back home to plan their day around watching a soccer game.
The U.S. might not be known as a hotbed of passion for the "other" football. At least for a day, that changed.
Fans — hard-core supporters and curious casual fans alike — gathered in bars, restaurants and living rooms from coast to coast, cheering on the U.S. team. At the Small Bar in Chicago, hundreds of fans showed up for the match dressed up in U.S. jerseys and wearing American flags draped around their shoulders.
Some patrons lined up as early as 6 a.m. for a good seat.
American fans were disappointed early. The U.S. fell behind 1-0 at halftime.
Alex Boesel, 28, of Chicago, said he used to watch previous World Cups at home because he didn't think other people cared so much about soccer. But he feels like something has changed this year.
"People are more aware that other people care about soccer," said Boesel, a computer programmer.
Boesel arrived at Small Bar at 6 a.m. to make sure he could get a seat. He had a South African-style vuvuzuela horn, but wasn't wearing a U.S. jersey because he said every store in the city was sold out or had hiked up prices to $100 or more.
Laura Howard, wife of U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard, watched the game with other members of the Howard family at the Flying Saucer in Cordova, Tenn.
Despite the 1-0 deficit, she said at halftime that she was encouraged by the support she has received from the community.
"It's been great," she said. "I have gotten calls from lots of friends that I haven't heard from in a long time and we have a lot of family in the area. It's been really amazing. I even heard Graceland was lit up in red, white, and blue."
The Howard family lives in Memphis during the summer. And given the rising popularity of the U.S. team, their offseasons of living in relative obscurity might be coming to an end.
"Not anymore!," Laura Howard said. "I'm originally from here so that's a big reason we chose to live here, but (Tim) loves to put on flip-flops and go to the gas station. But I don't think he's going to be able to do that anymore."
For the U.S. team, Saturday's game was the culmination of a wild week.
Landon Donovan's dramatic injury-time goal to beat Algeria was huge from a soccer perspective, saving the U.S. from elimination.
But in the age of social media, it turned out to be a community-building event of epic proportions.
For a new generation of soccer fans, ESPN announcer Ian Darke's majestic call of Donovan's decisive goal against Algeria —"AND DONOVAN HAS SCORED! OOOOH, DO YOU BELIEVE THIS? GO! GO! USA!" — has the potential to become their answer to "Do you believe in miracles?"
Hipster rockers Weezer penned an unofficial song for the team, "Represent"; lead singer Rivers Cuomo is a huge fan of the team. President Clinton stopped by the U.S. locker room after Wednesday's game — then he stayed to have a beer, and then he rearranged his schedule so he could be at Saturday's game.
Fans in bars across the country posted video of their reactions to Donovan's goal on YouTube, leading Purdue University senior Robby Donoho to put together a video montage, complete with background music, that was passed around the world — including by several U.S. players who posted it on their Twitter accounts.
As of Saturday night, the video had been viewed nearly 600,000 times.
"To see that Landon and Herculez (Gomez) posted my video on their Twitter and Facebook accounts was truly jaw-dropping," Donoho said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "I could not begin to express the feelings I had (when) I saw and heard about it. I was putting this video together to try and make a tribute to those guys over in South Africa and rally the USA around the soccer team and this World Cup, and it seems to have worked!"
Despite his new nationwide notoriety, Donoho had a conflict for Saturday's game — his cousin was getting married, and he's the videographer.
"But we all make sacrifices!" he said. "Hopefully I can keep track of the game on my phone during the wedding."
Associated Press Writer Anna Johnson in Chicago and freelance writer Paul Whitehead in Cordova, Tenn. contributed to this story.