FOXBORO, Mass. -- U.S. coach Bruce Arena called it a "stupid, little game," a "funny game," and a "crazy game." And he was right on all three counts.

He wasn't just talking about Sunday's 2-1 U.S. victory over Jamaica but about soccer in general. He was talking about telling his players before they took the field that the U.S. had begun its air strike on Afghanistan. He was talking about telling them at halftime, when he heard that both the Honduras-Trinidad and Mexico-Costa Rica matches were tied, "We can qualify for the World Cup today," though it almost seemed surreal. And he was talking about how, in sports it seems "you bury people one day only to find yourself digging them out of the grave the next."

Arena's emotions and thoughts were all over the place, flying here and there like so many pieces of paper around blustery Foxboro Stadium. Forgive him, even, for sports and war analogies that surely he'd retract if given more time to think about them.

He did not expect so many things to happen on this day.

The U.S. players came prepared to defeat Jamaica on Sunday. They did not come prepared to celebrate. No, it was too outlandish even to dream the three things that needed to happen for the U.S. to qualify for the 2002 World Cup -- a U.S. victory and losses or ties for both Mexico and Honduras -- actually could fall into place. Not after the three-match losing streak that, everyone thought, put the U.S. in the position of needing to win its final two matches to get to Japan/South Korea.

Forget that the U.S. was going to have its hands full with the carefree Reggae Boyz. How could Honduras, on the verge of qualifying for the World Cup, lose at home to lowly Trinidad & Tobago? How could Mexico not come away with a victory over a Costa Rican team that already had punched its ticket to the Cup? When asked about that chain of events earlier in the week, Arena told John Powers of the Boston Globe, "That's fantasy."

Stupid, funny, crazy game.

This match started with the U.S. looking like it was ready to overwhelm the Jamaicans. After an emotional "Star Spangled Banner" and the unveiling of an immense banner in the North end of the stadium that read "U.S You'll Never Walk Alone," the Yanks came out firing on all cylinders. In the third minute, Chris Armas won a free kick along the left sideline. Claudio Reyna served a little in-swinging ball to the near post that Joe-Max Moore glanced past Jamaican keeper Aaron Lawrence for a 1-0 U.S. lead.

And for the next five minutes, the U.S. stormed like a team poised for a blowout victory. Only the Yanks failed to make the ultimate pass or the decisive shot when they rushed forward with numerical advantages. The two-goal advantage never materialized, and the Jamaicans made the U.S. pay in the 14th minute. James Lawrence was allowed room to settle and shoot in the U.S. box, cleanly beating Brad Friedel to even the score.

"I thought this might be a game where we fell behind, or had to score late," Arena would say later. "And I told the team, over 90 minutes we need to be the better team."

At the half, Arena told his players what was happening in Honduras and Costa Rica. "He told us," said U.S. captain Claudio Reyna, "you can qualify today if you win. But I don't think any of us really believed him. We'd focused so hard on beating Jamaica this week, and the only thought even in the back of our minds was that we'd put ourselves in a position to qualify with a win over T&T in our final game (Nov. 7)."

Taking care of their own business was going to be difficult enough, it seemed. After the Jamaicans equalized, the game evened out to a degree. The Americans had more of the ball and more scoring chances, but the Jamaicans looked dangerous on the counter. When the second half opened with Lawrence making a point-blank save on Moore's volley, the thought that it wasn't going to be the Americans day crossed more than a few minds. "Did I get antsy?" Arena asked, "No, I thought we'd get a goal."

After several long stoppages for Jamaican injuries, Arena could be seen on the sidelines looking at his watch, obviously wondering if time would be stolen from the Americans. Then, just as the clock turned past 80 minutes, the U.S. got its break. Jeff Agoos served a long ball out of the back to Reyna, who headed it forward to Landon Donovan, who laid the ball back to Reyna. Donovan, who didn't stop running all afternoon, took off for the box, and Reyna slipped the ball behind Jamaican defender Tyrone Marshall. Donovan took a touch, and Marshall slid in hard, getting all of Donovan's ankles and none of the ball. Referee Rodolfo Sibrian pointed to the penalty spot.

Moore grabbed the ball, shook hands with a trash-talking Aaron Lawrence and buried a low shot in the lower right hand corner.

And just like that, suddenly, it seemed the "fantasy" trifecta could become a reality. "Even when we got together in a huddle at the end of the game and they said there was like a minute to go in both of the other games, it just didn't seem real," said Reyna. And then the scores were finals. Honduras had lost to T&T 1-0. Costa Rica had tied Mexico 0-0. "Suddenly, it was like, we've qualified. We're going to the World Cup."

Arena said he told his players about the U.S. air strikes before the game, because he thought it was "right for them to know." He also said, without sounding corny, he'd told his players, with everything people are giving up for their country these days, "You should be able to go out and give your all for 90 minutes in a stupid, little soccer game."

Then, the coach pulled back a little. "It's not a stupid, little soccer game, but you know what I mean."

Sure we do. In the past few weeks, many of us have shelved all the talk about how catastrophic it would have been for the U.S. to miss out on the World Cup. We came to realize the losses to Mexico, Honduras and Costa Rica that transformed the U.S. from a can't-miss into a question mark were not "tragic." We came to realize that even the most painful defeats on athletic fields are events to be celebrated and cherished.

We understand this love affair with the game is, indeed, stupid, funny and crazy. And now we're thankful we can spend the next six months thinking, dreaming even, about what the U.S. can do this summer in the World Cup.

Jeff Bradley is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at jeff.bradley@espnmag.com.