Rising up again all odds, the U.S. team defeated Portugal in its opening game of the 2002 World Cup.

The 2002 World Cup for the United States started with an extremely tough test in European power Portugal. Fernando Couto, Luis Figo, and the rest of the Portuguese team were ranked in the top 10 and heavily favored going into the game in Suwon, South Korea.

The United States walked out on the field in South Korea with only two days rest after their loss to Poland to end the group stage.

Waiting for the Red, White, and Blue was a better rested and confident Mexican side led by Cuauhtémoc Blanco.

The United States defeated Azerbaijan 2-0 on Tuesday night behind goals from substitutes Mix Diskerud and Aron Johannsson.

The defense was largely untested, and the focus was largely on the play of the midfielders and the forwards. Here were the ratings from the game:

Jurgen Klinsmann surprised the United States soccer community last week by announcing his 23 man roster for this summer's World Cup.

The exclusion of Landon Donovan sent shockwaves on Twitter and beyond.

A big question for U.S. fans heading into the World Cup is surely on Jozy Altidore and just what is plaguing the young striker at Sunderland.

Many situations could each play a role in the poor season, coaching changes, style of play, shaky confidence, and so on. All of those factors end up being subjective and ultimately do not tell for certain what could be causing the former New York Red Bull to shrink into the shadows.

The USMNT classic with Mexico was a tale of two halves, with the U.S. drawing 2-2 with Mexico.

Here are the player ratings for the Americans:

American soccer fans were greeted by a welcome, if not anticipated as of late, surprise earlier this week.

The announcement of Bayern Munich forward Julian Green's decision to suit up for the United States national team over Germany on Tuesday has been warmly welcomed by many soccer fans across the country.

Tensions between Russia and the United States are moving from the political arena to the soccer field.

Two politicians from the State Duma are demanding FIFA kick the U.S. national team out of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Aleksandr Sidyakin and Mikhail Markelov, deputies in Russia's lower house, are making the appeal to soccer's world governing body. The two are also asking FIFA to terminate the United States' membership in the organization.

American soccer fans have seen this many times when players have to make decisions on their club future.

It's easy to see these days in soccer how the right move can ignite a career, while the wrong one can (see Jozy Altidore) pull the emergency brake on ones development. Aron Johannsson's performance at AZ Alkmaar this season has turned the heads of US Soccer fans everywhere. That's all well and good, but if he is to get to that next level he must move in the summer, and that move means everything.

Nottingham Forest defender and Downers Grove, Illinois native Eric Lichaj is set to miss up to a month after reinjuring his pelvis during last weekend's match, a 4-1 loss to Wigan Athletic, according to a report by Sky Sports.

Lichaj initially hurt his pelvis against Watford on January 30th and spent most of February resting in the hopes he could avoid surgery. However, after re-injuring it in his first match back, Forest stated Lichaj might have to have hernia surgery to fix the issue.