The smile that plays around the corners of Clive Charles’ eyes is growing more noticeable with each game.
The coach of the U.S. men’s Olympic soccer team is enjoying this little jaunt to Australia, and if things keep going the way they have been, he soon will be making history.
All it will take is a U.S. victory over Kuwait on Tuesday night in Melbourne.
That would put the Americans through to the quarterfinals for the the first time. In 11 previous Olympic appearances, dating back to the 1924 Games in Paris, the U.S. men have never advanced that far.
Now, Charles’ chargers are only 90 minutes away.
They got to this point by producing another scintillating performance Saturday night, this time running Cameroon ragged and earning a 1-1 tie in front of 22,379 at Bruce Stadium.
The U.S. didn’t take advantage of all the scoring chances it created, but by the end, it was the underdog Americans who were being applauded loudest. Chants of “USA, USA” echoed from the Australian crowd.
“I thought the team showed a lot of courage tonight,” said Charles, 49, his Cockney accent as thick as it was when he left his native London to play in the old North American Soccer League 22 years ago. “It showed a lot of character, playing against a team that is extremely dangerous.
“I think we matched them and at times outfought them. And certainly we created enough chances to win the game. I was very, very proud of the performance tonight.”
Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Peter Vagenas was the goal-scoring hero Saturday, and his Galaxy teammate, Danny Califf, superbly marshaled the U.S. defense against the “Indomitable Lions.”
Most of Cameroon’s players play for leading clubs in Europe. In the early moments of the match, they looked bigger, faster, fitter and more likely to prevail.
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“To be honest, the first 20 minutes they had us on our heels,” Vagenas said. “They were coming at us from all angles.”