World Cup qualifiers rock -- and why U.S. soccer fans are slow to catch on

I'm taking a working vacation with my girlfriend, and our little hideaway is right on the beach. I got up early this morning, strolled out on the balcony and there he was, Flipper, doing his little dolphin hop across blue water.

Five minutes later, all the dolphin inspired Zen vanished like cash on Saturday night when I read this headline: "Tickets still available for Sept. 5 U.S. qualifier."

I nearly fell out of my cheap, oddly comfortable PVC pipe patio chair. How can that be?

Well, actually I know how that can be.

So many U.S. Soccer fans have yet to "get it" when it comes to World Cup qualifiers. On one hand I can't really blame them, seeing as the chances were always quite high approaching the long qualifying campaign that Bob Bradley's bunch would claim one of three spots guaranteed to the region.

On the other hand, former manager Bruce Arena himself has said that it will happen someday: The United States will fail to qualify for a World Cup. Heck, it could even be this one. If the United States stumbles at Rio Tinto against El Salvador in about 11 days, the whole shebang is in jeopardy. I wrote about that last week for ESPNSoccernet.

And that's the thing. These qualifiers really are important. People still paddling around in the shallow end of U.S. soccer fandom love the World Cup and all it's brilliant layers of sport, passion, meaning, global belonging, inclusiveness, etc. It really is a spectacular and beautiful thing, this quadrennial world-wide sporting stop-down.

But I tell people all the time, getting there really is half the fun. I tell friends, "You really should go to a qualifier. The nervous energy there could power a medium-sized college campus."

But I suppose you just don't understand until you're there. You have to arrive at the grounds three hours early and go talk to someone from Guatemala or Jamaica, who are already at the venue because they could never, ever forgive themselves if they weren't on time and didn't personally witness every epochal moment in the event of a big result, one that propels their land into a World Cup.

You have to be in the stands, I suppose, when everyone in the stadium, fans of both sides, finally unholster the full arsenal of emotion when the sides first walk onto the pitch. At that moment of dynamic clarity, it all sets in: One of these teams will actually be in the World Cup, the very pinnacle of this sport that we love.

The other could well be watching in bars and basement media rooms with the rest of us.

It's at that moment you realize: I'm here! These teams are sorting it out, right before me, and the $38 I paid for this seat is the best money I've ever spent!

I was in Portland in 1997 when Tab Ramos hit for a goal that helped lift the United States into World Cup 1998. I know it was a seriously failed bit, that stumble through France '98. On the other hand, imagine where soccer might be today if that qualification campaign had fallen apart -- and it could easily have on that important day at PGE Park, which was rocking with nervous delight. To this day, every journalist friend I talk to who was present relishes that memorable Portland afternoon.

Qualifiers in Europe and South America sure are serious business, of course. Imagine for a second what it will be like on Sept. 5 in Medellin, where Colombia hosts Ecuador in a match weighted with significance for both teams' qualification dreams. In Europe, Denmark could pretty much seal the deal next week with a win over curiously puny Portugal, and Copenhagen will be alight with anticipation over the prospects.

And you want tense? How would you like to be in the stands in Belfast a few days later where it will all be on the line between group leaders Northern Ireland and Slovakia. Those aren't big countries. If you're a passionate, patriotic fan, you're looking at that match and understanding that what happens over 90 minutes could be the best chance you'll have over the next 20 years to see your beloved land in a World Cup.

World Cup qualifiers rock. The events that spill out at a truly swell stadium at the base of the Wasatch Mountains on Sept. 5 will say so much about the U.S. fortunes.

In a day when we're all looking for change in the sofas, I can't begrudge anyone for not being there. I just believe there will be a day when folks will understand how the path leading to a World Cup can be just as richly lined as the event itself.