From the Sun Deck

Wednesday: Victory.
Thursday: Recovery.
Friday: Relaxation.

We managed to get up early and get down to the Apartheid Museum in Soweto. (A quick stop at KFC for breakfast was made. Try the "a.m. Riser". Delicious.)

The Apartheid Museum was a pretty powerful experience, although the timeline of the country's history was difficult to follow. That being said, it was definitely the "Never Again" moment of 2010 - paralleling several moments from 2006.

Problem: Apparently they also have issues with car theft from the museum. Solution: When you drive out of the gate, they have you turn your car off and then back on. If you can turn it back on, you have the keys. Therefore you are not a their. Therefore you can go.

Currently, I'm sitting on our sun deck, enjoying the afternoon warmth and sitting in some strangely uncomfortable chairs. Around me are three men I love. They are warriors. And Ghana is coming up next.

Saturday: Back to battle.

2006 Remembered :: USA v. Ghana

Third Group Stage game in Nuremberg against Ghana and the USA needs a win and some help to go through. We are the victim of horrible officiating and some self-destruction. But in the 43rd minute, Run DMB steals the ball and sends a steaming cross to a streaking Clint Dempsey. The ball is coming right towards us but from our low angle, it's hard to see who the recipient is supposed to be; it's just ball and grass and hope. And then, like a vision, arrives Dempsey to one-time the cross into the back of the net, as Noah would say later, kicking the ball harder than anyone has ever kicked a soccer ball anywhere. We erupt into madness. Our shins are cut on the seats in front of us. Darkness arrives at the edge of our vision from screaming-induced oxygen deprivation. There are tears in our eyes. Noah and I are holding each other. Jeremy and Silver are holding each other. We keep saying, "This is what we came for. This! Is! What! We! Came! For!" The game ends poorly. We walk from the stadium in silence. We ask logical questions about Landon Donovan's geographic and emotional whereabouts. We swear to return. The Dempsey goal is what we came for. It's what we go back for. It's what we wait for against England. We're still here.