Win ignites coast-to-coast revelry
They celebrated the U.S. team's big moment in bars, restaurants and office cubicles from coast to coast, die-hard soccer supporters and curious casual fans united as they shouted, sang and even sobbed with joy.
Farshid Niroumand celebrated in solitude.
Niroumand, who coached U.S. star Clint Dempsey in high school, watched Wednesday's monumental World Cup victory over Algeria at his home in Nacogdoches, Texas, a city of 31,000 about 180 miles southeast of Dallas.
"I don't want anybody to see my emotion — yell or scream, or maybe use the wrong language," Niroumand said.
That might have been for the best, as Dempsey had a goal disallowed on a questionable offside call in the first half, an agonizing miss from point-blank range in the second half and even was hit in the face, leaving his lip bleeding.
All that frustration was wiped away when Landon Donovan rifled a rebound from Dempsey's attempted shot into the back of the net in stoppage time. The 1-0 victory over Algeria saved the Americans from elimination and sent them into the second round for a game Saturday against Ghana.
Halfway across the world, a surprisingly large chunk of a country that doesn't typically pay much attention to soccer was yelling itself horse.
"When they scored that goal, I thought the roof was going to come off this place," said Joe White, manager of the Royal Mile bar in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. "It was just crazy."
It was a galvanizing moment for U.S. soccer, one that could help the game elbow its way further into the American sports mainstream.
The frantic finish led to an explosion of joy at places like the Highbury, a soccer-themed bar in Milwaukee's Bay View neighborhood.
Highbury patron Carl Witkowski declared that he has cried only three times in his life.
"When I got married, when I saw my son was born," said Witkowski, who wore his blue No. 17 Jozy Altidore jersey to watch the match. "And today."
An hour after the big win, Highbury patrons still were embracing, singing and dancing on the bar. James Brown's "Living in America" was blasting on the sound system.
Not everybody who wanted to watch was able to skip work, of course, leading to lost production akin to what happens in the U.S. during the NCAA men's basketball tournament each March.
Jayme Joers, a clerical assistant at a law firm in Cincinnati, had to make do with an Internet feed at her desk. Pushing the limits of the office's business-casual policy, she wore her U.S. jersey and a blue headband to work.
"I tried really hard to be quiet," she said. "But as the game progressed, I couldn't."
