USA v. Czech Republic; Gelsenkirchen, part 3

It seems like we took a lot of the same shots, but honestly, we had no idea how these photos would turn out so we were being safe. It was not a good day for the American side. They came out cold and allowed a quick Czech goal that kind of set a dominating tone for the rest of the match. The Czechs fired 2 more past Kasey Keller and the game was over. Czech Republic were a fantastic team that year, but even they didn't make it out of the group stages in 2006.

Making the event even worse were a couple of Czech teenagers in front of us mocking the United States the entire time. One of them had a leg cast on; I don't know why, but I'll always remember that. We faced a lot of mockery as Americans on our trip; both because of how our team is viewed around the world (without passion) and because of our country's political standing at the time.






A typical scene at the train station after (or before) a match. US supporters were still enthusiastic despite the loss. It was a party just to be there, though losing felt like death.

A side trip to Amsterdam was next.