“Can We Make a Little Bit of Magic Happen?” An Oral History of the Best USMNT of All Time

Soccer was poised to be America’s sport of the future following the 1994 World Cup. The globe’s most popular sporting event was on U.S. soil for the first time and the U.S. Men’s National Team—a shaggy group of lovable overachievers—had made the knockout stage of the tournament for the first time since 1934 before losing to eventual champion Brazil.

But the next few years didn’t go according to plan.

Major League Soccer, the first American soccer league since the NASL folded in 1985, began play in the spring of 1996 but struggled from the start. The matches were played in near-empty football stadiums and television ratings and overall revenue were anemic. After five years, the league had burned through $250 million and contracted from 12 to 10 teams.

Surely, the performance of the USMNT at the 1998 World Cup in France didn’t help. Largely composed of MLS players, the U.S. lost all three group matches, including a humiliating 2-1 defeat to Iran, and finished 32nd out of 32 teams.

US Soccer regrouped prior to the 2002 World Cup. A new coach. A new system. A new roster with upstarts replacing most of the holdovers from 1994 and 98. Still, expectations were low, particularly after the U.S. was drawn into the Group of Death alongside Portugal, Poland, and co-host nation South Korea.

But the team would shock the world with a historic run to the quarterfinals. In the process, they changed the narrative surrounding U.S. soccer. This is the Oral History of the Best USMNT of All Time.

The Voices:
Jeff Agoos, USMNT, Defender (1998, 2002)
Cobi Jones, USMNT, Midfielder (1994, 1998, 2002)
Alexi Lalas, USMNT, Defender (1994, 1998), Analyst, Fox Sports
Eddie Lewis, USMNT, Midfielder (2002, 2006)
Carlos Llamosa, USMNT, Defender (2002)
Brian McBride, USMNT, Forward (1998, 2002)
Tony Sanneh, USMNT, Defender/MF (2002)
Josh Wolff, USMNT, Forward (2002)

Rebuilding U.S. Soccer
USMNT head coach Steve Sampson resigned shortly after the team flamed out at the 1998 World Cup. U.S. Soccer hired Bruce Arena, a highly respected former college coach at the University of Virginia, and the current head coach of the D.C. United, winners of the first two MLS Cups.

Alexi Lalas, USMNT, Defender (1994, 1998), Analyst, Fox Sports: This was a new start. Bruce Arena came in and kind of cleaned house, which included plenty [of players] from my generation.

Eddie Lewis, USMNT, Midfielder (2002, 2006): Bruce knew he had a bunch of really good young players coming up who hadn’t been given much exposure to the national team because that ‘94 core group had kind of locked it down [in 1998].

Alexi Lalas: Bruce, he doesn’t suffer fools. There is a necessary ruthlessness in the way he goes about his business. He is very direct. I think players can appreciate that, especially if it's juxtaposed with what came before.

Cobi Jones, USMNT, Midfielder (1994, 1998, 2002): Bruce had a completely different type of personality and was a different type of coach than Steve Sampson. There was definitely much more freedom. We were treated like adults.

Brian McBride, USMNT, Forward (1998, 2002): At Bruce's first meeting with us, he came in and goes, "All right, listen, we're no longer going to play for draws. We're going to try and win every single match. That is going to be our mentality." All of us were excited to hear that.

Alexi Lalas: There was an evolution of the way that this team played and I think people appreciated seeing that it wasn't just going to be a team that sat back and just absorbed pressure. But it also wasn't going to be Spain by any stretch of the imagination.

Eddie Lewis: Typically, US teams, particularly against top nations, would drop back and hope they'd get the odd chance throughout the game. Bruce felt very strongly that we could compete. Maybe player for player, [other teams were] more talented than us, but …we’re just as fit, so we need to put pressure on them. And if we could get them rattled and uncomfortable, we can beat them mentally. And you had a bunch of players who liked and wanted to play that way because it's also more fun, right?

Josh Wolff, USMNT, Forward (2002): There was a lot of energy. There was a lot of optimism. It was a process but we continued to pick up momentum and add personality and character to the team.

Cobi Jones: One of the most important things was that we got along as a group. This was a much tighter and closer group than in ’98. Let’s just say there were issues.

Brian McBride: There was a belief—not just that we could win matches against top teams—but, more importantly, a belief in each other. Whether you started every game or came off the bench, everybody had the same goal.

Eddie Lewis: That mood really started in 1999 and carried through qualifications in 2001.

The USMNT qualified for the 2002 World Cup after finishing 5-2-3 (five wins, two draws, and three losses) in the CONCACAF zone. The draw took place on December 1, 2002 and the Americans were slotted alongside Portugal, Poland, and South Korea in Group D, which was dubbed the Group of Death.

Tony Sanneh, USMNT, Defender/MF (2002): I was playing in Germany [at 1. FC Nürnberg]. I remember talking to my teammates and everyone in Germany thought we were going to get smoked.

Jeff Agoos, USMNT, Defender (1998, 2002): We knew this was going to be a really, really difficult group, but we still felt really confident.

Brian McBride: The first camp after the draw, we walk into a team meeting and Bruce comes in and doesn't say anything. He turns around, gets in front of all of us and the first thing out of his mouth is, "We're going to beat Portugal." I still get the chills because all of us were shocked. That was his mentality. And he started every camp like that. “We're going to beat Portugal.”

Eddie Lewis: We had gained so much confidence in some of those international friendlies over the years. We beat Argentina. We literally pressed one of the best teams in the world for the first 15 minutes and they had a hard time stringing passes together.

Carlos Llamosa, USMNT, Defender (2002): We faced Germany. We faced Uruguay. We faced Holland. We faced a lot of top teams from Europe, South America. We played Ecuador. We played Colombia.

Tony Sanneh: We lost to Holland, but still felt really good. Even though there were losses, we knew we were really close to getting it together.

Jeff Agoos: We got to Korea and are staying at the JW Marriott in downtown Seoul. It was a much more cohesive experience than in 1998. In 1998, we stayed at a beautiful chateau in Lyon that was somewhat isolated. And while it was an absolutely beautiful venue for a weekend it was very difficult to stay for a long period of time. We felt isolated from the tournament. We also didn’t have access to our families.

Brian McBride: In 2002, Bruce wanted our immediate family or immediate partner to be in the same hotel—you just didn’t sleep in the same rooms. But it felt more like home.

Carlos Llamosa: What wasn’t typical was the security. This was post-9/11. When we arrived in South Korea, we had South Korean soldiers escort us to the bus. In the hotel, there was security in the lobby and on every floor.

Eddie Lewis: We couldn't go anywhere without being super supervised. We were constantly flanked with military jets and outrageous amounts of security. Every single training session had all these sensors that would check air quality for bio attacks.

Tony Sanneh: We had to let people know whenever we left the hotel. We were like, "Are we being tailed or what?" We didn't know we had SWAT in our hotel on every floor.

Carlos Llamosa: I remember having meetings with the Secret Service. Every time we jumped in a bus to go to practice or a game, they had to screen the bus with dogs.

Eddie Lewis: But at the same time, once you're in the World Cup, it’s almost like everything else goes away. You're there for one purpose, you really don't have to think about anything else. For us, this was the moment to prove to the rest of the world that we were more than just happy-to-be-there.

“All of a sudden, they got punched in the mouth.”
The Group Stage
On June 5, 2002, the USMNT opened their World Cup in Suwon, South Korea, against Portugal, ranked 6th in the world at the time and led by midfielders Luis Figo and Rui Costa. The U.S. jumped to a fast start. John O’Brien scored in the 4th minute on a set piece, before an own-goal in the 29th minute put the U.S. ahead 2-0. Then, 36 minutes in, a diving McBride buried a Sanneh cross into the back of the net for a 3-0 lead.

Brian McBride: I had played with Tony in the A-League with the Milwaukee Rampage so we had done that plenty of times. Tony played an amazing ball and all I had to do was not mishit it. So I just laid out. Once I headed it, I knew exactly where my wife and daughter were in the stands. I looked up and locked eyes with [them] and got to celebrate with them. It’s still the most special thing to happen in my soccer career.

Eddie Lewis: First games are always a little bit nervy and we took the mindset of we're going for it right from the start and it worked perfectly. Portugal was really rattled. We had them from the first minute.

Cobi Jones: Portugal underestimated us a little bit. Then, all of a sudden, they got punched in the mouth.

Jeff Agoos: I don't know how seriously they took us. I would imagine by the second goal, they started to take us a little bit more seriously.

Carlos Llamosa: Portugal had good players but they would send the outside backs really high and then leave the back line really exposed. So the plan was to make sure we defended well and then counterattacked with Landon Donovan, DeMarcus Beasley and Brian.

Portugal's comeback started in the 39th minute when Beto scored a goal to cut the U.S. lead to 3-1. An own goal by Jeff Agoos in the 71st minute turned the last 20 minutes of the match into a frenzied battle for three points.

Jeff Agoos: Look, these goals happen. Every defender at a high level has had an own goal. Unfortunately mine came during a World Cup. But I kind of joke about it saying, "I've always wanted to score in the World Cup and now I fulfilled that promise."

Cobi Jones: It was a little panic time. That’s why a lot of the subs came in to try to settle things down as you could see it slowly starting to slip away.

Eddie Lewis: We were all hands on deck there at the end. If that game lasted five more minutes, I don't know if we would've won.

In their next match, the United States held on for a 1-1 draw against South Korea, leaving both nations tied atop the group with 4 points. A win over Poland would clinch a spot in the knockout stage. The Polish team looked like a potential sleeper pick coming into the World Cup but staggered once the tournament started, falling 2-0 to South Korea and 4-0 against Portugal.

Eddie Lewis: There was a bunch of infighting with the coach and they changed their entire 11. Then, against us, [Poland] played absolutely reckless soccer—you’d never play that way if you had something to play for, just leaving tons of guys forward. We weren't ready for it. We couldn't manage it. And it was happening very quickly.

Brian McBride: They did to us what we did to Portugal—hit us early and quick. And by the time we were able to regroup, we were in trouble. So, we go in at halftime knowing we're down 2-0. We also know that the Portugal-South Korea game is nil-nil. And literally, our locker room was like, "Oh no."

If the halftime scores held, South Korea and Portugal would advance to the knockout stage. Poland then added another goal in the 66th minute.

Eddie Lewis: For a minute there, it was like, okay, this is curtains.

Cobi Jones: We were done.

Brian McBride: I got taken off around the 60th minute. We're all sitting on the bench and all of a sudden we hear this big roar. We all looked at each other like, "Did they just score?"

Up in Incheon, future Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-sung gave South Korea a 1-0 lead with one of the prettiest goals of the tournament. Despite the 3-1 loss to Poland, the Americans had survived and would advance.

Eddie Lewis: It was definitely a little awkward because we're sort of celebrating even though we were getting hammered on the field. But deep down everybody was pretty happy that not only were we going through, but we're going through and we get the chance to play Mexico in the round of 16.

“Dislike. Distaste. Displeasure. They all rang true.”
USA vs. Mexico, June 17, 2002
The United States proceeded to the knockout stage to face their historic rival, Mexico. Though El Tri had dominated the series in the past, the Americans had won 5-of-6 including a split during World Cup qualifying.

Tony Sanneh: Now you’re playing a team that you know you can beat—and we had beaten them before.

Josh Wolff: We played them a number of times and in friendlies and they are heated, combative, contested matches. Dislike, distaste, displeasure, whatever, they all rang true.

Tony Sanneh: They were also historically a very chippy team. We had almost some fights in the [past]. I got elbowed in the face. Brian McBride had the big [welt] on his eye [in 2001]. So this was going to be a fight.

A few hours before the match, the USMNT team received a phone call from President George W. Bush.

Eddie Lewis: It was a formal call. I don't think George was a big soccer fan. I do remember him saying something like “Give ‘em hell boys,” or something, which was just kind of a… comment that didn't have anything to do with soccer. But it was cool. Anytime you're getting a call from the president, it was a big deal.

Carlos Llamosa: He said, "Guys, make sure you beat Mexico. I made a bet with President Fox. So make sure you beat Mexico, and after the World Cup, you come here to the White House and visit me.” A month later we paid a visit to the White House.

Jeff Agoos: I remember very distinctly the Mexican team had arrived before us. When we walked out, there were a number of players in the center circle and they were just sort of laughing and joking and pointing as we were walking up. That just absolutely inflamed us.

Eddie Lewis: We played a different formation than we had been playing. Bruce had asked Claudio Reyna, who typically played in the middle for us, to play as a right wingback. Claudia was basically our number 10.

Brian McBride: I don't think he's ever played right back in his life, but Bruce made some changes to help us in possession.

Eddie Lewis: And it just turned out to be an absolute masterclass in terms of the way we played, the way we absorbed their pressure, the way we knew what they were good at and how we could potentially hit them on the break. And it worked really almost to perfection.

The United States won 2-0 behind goals from McBride and Donovan.

Tony Sanneh: I felt like it was the best game we played in history.

Alexi Lalas: It birthed a historic phrase: Dos a Cero.

Josh Wolff: Bruce, again, celebratory. “Let's ensure that this is put behind us. Enjoy the now. Tomorrow we get back to work!” There was a party all day just as you’d expect from a very excited, youthful American team. We all really enjoyed the moment. It spilled over into the buses and the Mexican team’s bus was [next to ours]. We were feeling this sense of pride and accomplishment. But we could see how bad it hurt them to get knocked out of the World Cup by the Americans. The dejection and the disappointment and the anger was really, really clear.

“We’re playing with house money now!”
USA vs. Germany, June 21, 2002
For the first time in their World Cup history, the USMNT won a match in the knockout phase. Their reward: a quarterfinal with Germany. Less than three months earlier, the European powerhouse beat them 4-2 in an international friendly in Germany. But a different American team showed up in South Korea.

Cobi Jones: Everything shifted to, “We're playing with house money now!” There was a calmness. Yes, we're facing Germany, a legendary national team that has won multiple World Cups. But can we make a little bit of magic happen? It was all about self-belief more than anything else.

Josh Wolff: There was zero hesitation and zero doubt that we could go out and compete.

The United States dominated the early stages of the match, pressuring the stout German defense. But Oliver Kahn made a handful of slick saves on Landon Donovan to keep the match scoreless. Then, in the 39th minute, German star Michael Ballack buried a header into the net off a free kick.

Eddie Lewis: One thing about the Germans, is they don’t need a lot of chances. Their ability to finish has proved to be the difference in a lot of those matches.

The USMNT continued to move forward. In the 50th minute, Gregg Berhalter’s redirection off a corner seemed destined to be the equalizer once it squeaked past Khan. But German midfielder Torsten Frings appeared to keep the ball out of the net with his arm. Despite pleas from the Americans, a penalty kick was not awarded. Germany would advance to the semifinal with a 1-0 victory.

Carlos Llamosa: In today's game with VAR that would be a PK and a red card, or even a goal, because the ball was past the line.

Eddie Lewis: It wasn't uncommon back then for the bigger teams to get calls. It’s kind of like in a big NBA game where all of a sudden LeBron seems to get more calls than the rookie. That’s just kind of how football was.

Josh Wolff: We were probably the better team on the day,

Tony Sanneh: At that point, Germany just had a different kind of maturity. They knew how to win. Yeah, we pat ourselves on the back. We played great. It was back and forth. We had all these chances. But we didn't win. As a national team, winning wasn't embedded in us.

Jeff Agoos: I ran into Michael Ballack several years later at a dinner and talked about the game. He said, "You guys ran around like dogs. We couldn't keep up. It was an incredible effort.” There was a lot of respect from the German team.

Carlos Llamosa: We felt a lot of pride but also pain.

Cobi Jones: We looked at it as a missed opportunity because of that handball. We felt we got robbed a little bit.

Tony Sanneh: If we win that match, we play South Korea. That's definitely a winnable match. Now, Brazil were a much better team than us. But we could get lucky [against them]. We could get a penalty kick off a handball or something like that. You never know, Ronaldo could get sick again.

The 2002 USMNT’s legacy is set: They are the best men’s soccer team in U.S. Soccer history. More than that though, they helped grow the game in the States where soccer has been America’s sport of the future since the 1970s, as the joke goes. For fans, the tournament was not for the faint of heart with games taking place on the other side of the world and in the dead of night. But the hardcore American fans showed up in South Korea and tuned in in the States. The 2002 World Cup also boosted interest in Major League Soccer during a perilous time for the league and enhanced the reputation abroad of the American soccer player.

Eddie Lewis: There were endless stories of people staying up late and watching the games.

Brian McBride: When we came home, I can't tell you how many people were like, "I stayed up till whatever in the morning to watch this game and that game." I think it created more die-hard fans because they had to make a commitment to it.

Carlos Llamosa: I see not only fans, but also players who say, "Oh, I remember my parents let me stay up to watch you guys playing at three in the morning." They were little kids and now they're in the pros.

Josh Wolff: The World Cup was a pivotal moment for soccer in the United States. It also helped give MLS a little better footing. It brought a few more eyes, some money to [MLS], and new ownership. David Beckham coming in 2007 really changed the landscape. It certainly didn't make us the NFL, Major League Baseball, or NBA, but it gave us more stability and viability.

Alexi Lalas: MLS was going through contraction and there were some worries. I think it did give a nice shot in the arm to soccer in the United States at a time when we certainly needed it. Did it all of a sudden change the culture and the landscape? No, but this is always a gradual progression and to have a historically positive outcome, especially on the heels of ’98, that was a nice rebound.

Eddie Lewis: There was almost this obligation to move the whole thing forward as a nation. We really wanted to prove that US players could play in Europe successfully and could play at high levels. Our reputation meant a lot and not necessarily just for our own individual careers, but in providing this pathway for future generations.

Cobi Jones: It's the farthest that we've gone in the World Cup in the modern era. So there's a lot of pride in what we did in 2002.