Maxx Wolfson

these late nights are really getting to me.

The coffee, the Red Bull, the short catnap at 2 a.m., anything I can do so I can stay up long enough and watch my boys in red, white and blue.

Ok, I will admit I jumped on the U.S. soccer bandwagon just seconds after they beat Portugal, but I donāt care. They are fun to watch.

Yes, I did just say that soccer was fun to watch. Actually, the World Cup is fun to watch.

I even had a soccer watching party at my apartment for the U.S. 2-nil victory against Mexico, the game that some are calling the greatest victory in the history of U.S. soccer.

I would have to agree, not that my opinion means anything. It was only like the fifth time I have ever watched a soccer game, but when the United States does something that gets the rest of the world so upset, it has to be something great.

The game between the Yanks and our friends from south of the border had everything that we like ÷ rivalry, fighting, the world spotlight, an underdog, fighting, bad calls and patriotism.

I had about 10 friends over for the 11:25 p.m. start Sunday night. My apartment has hosted some major sporting events in the last year: the Tyson-Lewis fight, the NBA Finals, the World Series and the Wildcats run in the NCAA Tournament. But having people over for soccer was definitely a first.

After we found out the United States was playing Mexico, all my friends decided that we would have to prove our national pride and not eat any Mexican food the entire weekend. Taco Bell and Del Taco fall into the category (barely), and we also had to abstain from Mexican beer ÷ so it was three days of McDonalds, Burger King and Budweiser for us.

My friend Matt was the first to arrive and he has really gotten World Cup fever. Any excuse to yell profanity, drink beer and yell ćGoal!ä at the top of his lungs at two in the morning was good for him. He didnāt really know the rules or any player on the U.S. team, but then again, none of us really did either.

Andy showed up next and he was probably the most seasoned veteran of soccer watching out of the group. He has actually been to a major league soccer game before, which set him far apart from the rest of the group.

The closest I have been to a live soccer game was when I was eight and played for the GarbagePail Kids in my local AYSO league.

The rest of the group eventually arrived and we all were starting to really get into the game before ESPN showed a NIKE commercial ÷ in Spanish I might add ÷ of Mexicoās best player, Cuauhtemoc Blanco. The commercial showed a bunch of goalies talking about how scared they are of this Blanco guy.

I donāt know if this was some sort of American propaganda to get the American television viewers even more fired up about beating Mexico but, whatever it was about, it worked.

After that, my roommate Rob started to pick on Blanco the rest of the match because he knew that Brad Friedel, our goalie, was not scared of Blanco like the chumps in the commercial were.

After doing practically nothing the entire game, Rob thought he should change his name from Blanco to Amarillo, whatever that means.

After the first U.S. goal by Brian McBride, my friend Jon thought he would pay homage to him and run around my apartment with his shirt over his head, just like he saw the soccer players do on the SportsCenter highlights.

After knocking cans all over the floor, we kept celebrating with high fives and loud singing from that point on.

However, that did not last long. The second American goal by Landon Donovan brought only more yelling and more spilled beer cans.

Mexico failed to score the entire game and decided that if they couldnāt make it in the net, why not actually kick the U.S. players?

So some Mexican player took all his anger out on U.S. midfielder Cobi Jones, who actually got head-butted and kicked in the ass at the exact same time.

It was the closest the Mexicans got to kicking something they were aiming at all game.

Now the underdog U.S. squad has to turn its attention to the soccer uber-powerhouse in Germany.

The Germans are one of the favorites to win the whole thing, at least that is what Iām told; remember Iām new at this soccer thing.

I was thinking my Yanks have no chance, but ESPN soccer analyst Tommy Smyth, the guy with the thick Irish accent, actually said they have a shot to win the thing.

I guess the same was being said before the Americans beat the Russians in hockey in 1980.

So, set your alarm for 4:25 a.m. ÷ yes thatās a.m. ÷ on Friday.