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"FacebookPinterest\n\n Once every four years, a raging global party shakes the very foundation of the planet, seizing the attention of men, women, children, pets, politicians, patriots\u2014hell, pretty much everyone who doesn't live in America (and a growing number of people who do) for one dizzying, dazzling month. Productivity stalls, wars slow, foes become friends. \n\nThat party, of course, is the World Cup: the Super Bowl, March Madness, the Olympics, Burning Man, and the liberation of Paris all rolled into one.\n\nFor thirty-one days and nights, citizens of Earth are riveted by the fates of thirty-two teams that have endured two years of grueling qualification to make the field. Every bar becomes a roiling den of good-natured jingoism, every city square an impromptu sports rave. Those of us who don't live in Lhasa or London or La Paz\u2014or at least New York or Chicago or the few other pockets of American soccer fandom\u2014have been missing out on one unforgettable experience.\n\n But this time, there's more reason than ever to catch the fever. This time our team is good\u2014arguably our best ever, led by the attacking midfielder Landon Donovan (below)\u2014and our coverage is wall-to-wall. Every second of all sixty-four matches will be shown live on ESPN, ESPN2, or ABC (twenty-five in 3-D!), from ten stadiums across South Africa.\n\n The thing about the World Cup is that every game matters, and none matter more than the ones that feature your team, or your ancestors' team, or the team beloved by those Ghanaians or Portuguese or Serbs who live down the street. (Just tell us you won't root for the Italians; nobody likes the Italians.) By month's end, you'll be marveling at the dribbling wizardry of Argentine prodigy Lionel Messi, scoffing at the theatrics (and hairstyling decisions) of Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo, and chanting drunkenly in support of C\u00F4te d'Ivoire, a.k.a. the Ivory Coast, a.k.a. the Elephants, the game's most surprising, and exciting, superpower.\n\n On any given day, Team USA can beat the best team in the world, as it did last summer, knocking off number-one-ranked Spain in the Confederations Cup. The Americans have plenty of confidence and a friendly draw in group play, the round-robin stage of the tournament. We face England on June 12, Slovenia on June 18, and Algeria on June 23. We'll be the favorites in those last two games, which means there's an excellent chance we'll advance to the single-elimination round\u2014and at that point, anything can happen. If Donovan plays like he's capable of playing, if Tim Howard lives up to his rep as one of the best goalkeepers alive, and if we catch a few lucky breaks, then maybe, just maybe, we can Shock the World, causing the streets of New York and Chicago and L.A., not to mention Duluth and Wichita and Boise, to morph into Rome in 2006 or Rio in 2002.\n\n Hey, dare to dream. Right, Landon?\n\n \"What makes us dangerous is our team spirit, our attitude, and the way we come together,\" says the 28-year-old Californian, who plays his pro ball for the L.A. Galaxy. \"That's just the American spirit. I think most of our players emplify that. And when you have that, you always have a chance.\""^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.gq.com/story/team-usa-world-cup-2010>