Today, the U.S. Mens National Soccer Team plays Slovenia in our second World Cup match. In all likelihood, we will win. Last Saturday, our nations finest played England, and we did not win. But we did. Sort of.

The epic England vs. America soccer match had to be viewed as a clash of cultures. The United States is superior to England in many arenas, including war, making hip-hop, having delicious food, and becoming independent from England. However, we are historically pretty terrible at soccer, whereas England excels at it. Having said that, another thing that America is good at is assuming that its our right to win anything we participate in, even if we suck at it. Plus, we already beat them once, so didnt that count for something? Of course, the last time wed beaten them was 1950, so there probably werent too many holdovers from the 1950 squad to this years.

In Englands corner, there was a ridiculously talented squad, but it was populated by players who didnt necessarily form a team as much as they made up a loose collective of individuals who wear the same color jerseys. Still, they were stacked. There was Wayne Rooney, Stephen Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, and, er, that other guy everybodys heard of. Meanwhile, we had goalkeeper Tim Howard, and thats about it in the talent department.

The point is, tensions were high in London, where I am spending the summer with a study-abroad program. I kind of felt like it was 1776 all over again. Walking to a pub to watch the game wearing our America gear, my friends and I found ourselves the focus of a preponderance of dirty looks, snide comments, and barely concealed laughter.&bsp; The English were confident. We werent.

The pub had two rooms with TVs, which the Pub People siphoned us into by our respective nationalities, British or American. This was nice, because we all got an opportunity to project our jingoistic rage to one focused target instead of just mouthing off to whoever might be in our vicinity.

The game itself was fantastic. Despite letting one slip by in the early minutes of the game, Tim Howard proved that hes legitimately a candidate for best goalkeeper in the world.&bsp; Our team passed well, played okay, and managed to get lucky off of a Clint Dempsey shot and score, which led to us being able to run with England for the entire match. Now, for a second, if we could talk about Clint Dempseys shot, which dribbled practically through the English goalkeepers hands and into the net.

As a former high school goalkeeper, I could have blocked that shot. And these days, Im terrible at goalkeeping. That said, I could probably block it in a practice that was being watched by nobody. I think if I were subjected to that shot while being watched by seventy thousand people plus untold millions on TV, I probably would have fallen on the ground and had a panic attack. An action which, when you think about it, would have also blocked the shot, since I would be in a sideways position on the ground in front of the ball, which is EXACTLY WHAT THE ENGLISH KEEPER FAILED TO DO. Seriously, dude. Just move your hand a little, and then you wouldnt have an entire country mad at you.

The next day, a friend showed me the cover of that days New York Post, which featured the headline, AMERICA WINS 1-1.&bsp; Which, when you think about it, sounds about right.