In 1989, the United States won its biggest game in nearly 40 years. Needing to beat Trinidad & Tobago to make the World Cup, the Yanks went to Port of Spain and scored an unlikely 1-0 road win on Paul Caligiuri's long-distance shot. The National Team has played in every World Cup since.

This video of Caligiuri's miraculous goal reveals that the team's vanilla-and-blue uniforms were as uninspired as its eventual performance in the 1990 World Cup. The most striking image in this clip is the shot of the Trinidadian fans—a mass of red, the same as its team's home jersey. Even as soccer has grown in popularity in the States, it's been impossible for American crowds to achieve such an effect. Look back at the image of Landon Donovan in the first slide. The fans in the background—dressed in a mishmash of red, white, blue, and black shirts—look less like a cheering section than models for a sporting-goods catalog.