What a difference 20 years makes ...
It was the Summer of 1988 and ESPN was actually showing a soccer game ... a World Cup Qualifier in fact ... Jamaica had just tied the game at 1-1 ... The USA was not even going to make the final round of WCQ for Italia 90 unless something happened ... we had just been awarded the 94 cup and that could be in peril because if we didn't qualify for 90 there were forces that wanted to pull the plug on us for 94 ....
There were 10k there in attendance and the ESPN announcers were almost giddy over the attendance ... We came through and scored several goals and eventually did move on to Italia 90 and every World Cup since ...
Now ... we expect to qualify ... Even though CONCACAF has improved light years from 20 years ago ... The US is clearly with Mexico as the class of the region ...
In June the US will play Barbados in two matches to move into the next round of qualifying. The two Barbados matches would have been viewed as a huge road block in 1988 and are being treated as formalities today ...
In 1988 they were simply hoping to stay alive for 1989 and now the US Soccer Federation is already announcing next round venues and fans are planning trips to South Africa ...
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