Call it divine intervention, a miracle, an act of great faith: Landon Donovan’s goal two minutes into stoppage time was a goal that encapsulated the spirit that the Americans have carried throughout the entire tournament. The five American players on that memorable counter never gave up faith that “the goal” would come, and surely it came in the nick of time. Credit Tim Howard for distributing a rocket of a NFL-caliber throw that appeared to be of destiny, Altidore for making the supporting run wide that allowed the counter to progress, Dempsey for positioning himself to take the potential game-winning shot, and Donovan for his poaching sense and obviously for scoring the goal that perhaps saved football’s grace Stateside.
 

But I humbly believe the most credit deserves to go to the brilliant yet unassuming manager Bob Bradley. The elder Bradley may just be the national federation’s greatest asset— remarkable when he was genuinely Sunil Gulati’s second choice behind the much more renowned Jürgen Klinsmann after the disappointing 2006 World Cup campaign—and should be heralded as such. While Bradley was and most likely still is less renowned than Klinsmann in terms of prestige, he is undoubtedly just as able.
 

American soccer fans on December 8, 2006 were handed a great blessing, given a sincere and genuinely nice man who believed that his national team could and would be better, a home-grown winner as steadfast and effective as Klinsmann and some of the other great managers in the world. Bradley has been a winner everywhere he has managed— at Princeton, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles— with little hoopla and a relatively stoic appearance, and it has benefitted the national setup immensely.
 

Aside from the great results that he has brought to the side, Bradley has perhaps done something extremely important to the future of American soccer: created an environment conducive to the development of youth players. Much like he did at his previous clubs, he turned around a nation at crossroads and gave the emerging American crop of young players the opportunities to prove their worth and develop.
 

His faith in the fringes of the national pool paid off with results in the 2007 Gold Cup, 2009 Confederations Cup, and this current magical run we are experiencing. His trust in Bornstein, stemming from his brief tenure at Chivas USA, to replace Onyewu was rewarded with a very solid performance. His trust in Edu, his belief in particular players as the US surged forward looking for the winning goal, and his belief that they could finally score all contributed to the US victory.
 

The squad believes in Bradley as much as Bradley believes in them, and this mutual trust is invaluable. The special spirit that the Americans seemingly possess show that the players play for much more than themselves— part of that must be attributed to the tireless and positive Bradley, the manager whose professionalism and determination has set the tone for this US World Cup campaign.
 

Why else would Landon Donovan embrace Bradley in a very long, epic hug post-match? Why would all of the technical staff and players look to Bradley with the greatest of admiration, when you look across the pond and see the dissent Terry most definitely caused?
 

As Landon Donovan stated in his post-match interview, good things are finally rewarded. Those positive substitutions by Bradley, the four years of rebuilding for Donovan, advancement towards the culmination of Project 2010 for the national federation were all finally rewarded.
 

Bob Bradley’s quiet, modest, and humble compassion—the rarely-seen smiling face in the post-match interviews after the Spain victory last year and Algeria victory yesterday—was rewarded by the American player’s show of faith, and perhaps something greater.
 

The heroes are often the unsung that mince words and deflect credit, and Bradley fits that mold. After the American campaign concludes, Bradley’s tenure as the US manager will probably ride to its sunset (as some fans truly want) as he pursues a good club job in Europe, humble and unwilling to take credit for any American success.
 

But success we have achieved now. And Bob, I rose a glass to you after the match concluded. For everything surrounding the match, this one was all you. When the United States finally becomes a footballing nation, a “soccer nation”, Bob Bradley’s name should live among the best in history.