I’ve got my Sam Adams beer and my Ruffles potato chips. I’m ready for the big game on Saturday.  The Revolutionary War revisited. The Colonial uprising. The only thing missing is, sadly, David Beckham – because it would be fun to see him and Landon Donovan on opposing teams after all the nastiness that went on between them.

I hope something else isn’t missing on Saturday: good old American swagger.  The U.S. soccer team has a tendency to shrink on the big stage.  To look nervous and unprepared. To look like guests at the wrong party.

Four years ago, that’s what happened to the U.S. in Germany. Expectations were high back then, too. Maybe even higher than they are now, thanks to the Americans success is 2002 and the fact that many of players were World Cup veterans.

Yet they came out and flopped, horribly, against the Czech Republic. They lost 3-0 and though the U.S. team rallied admirably for a tie against eventual champion Italy in the next match, the damage was done. The Americans fell to Ghana and didn’t advance. It was a tough group (far tougher than this year’s group), but the way they played was bitterly disappointing.

Will they do that against CTIS? (the Country That Invented Soccer).

They better not. England might not be Spain or Brazil in terms of talent, but they’re a veteran, prideful team  whose players will put a boot on the Americans throat (or crotch, if we’re talking about Wayne Rooney) as soon as they sense any intimidation. You can bet they’re sick of hearing about “the improved American team.” And if someone brings up the 1-0 victory from 1950 again, there’s likely to be mass vomiting. So yes, the Brits will have a chip on their shoulder, which they usually do in World Cup play.

The U.S. could afford to lose to England and could still get through to the Round of 16. But the Americans can’t afford to appear small and unsure of themselves.

There’s plenty of reason for concern. Injuries have taken a toll on the Americans. The defense has looked shaky. The coach is a World Cup novice. And this is not a veteran squad. Fifteen of the players on the U.S. team are at their first World Cup. Only six players have played in a World Cup game, led by Donovan, who has played in eight games.

But veteran experience might be overrated. They were veterans in France in 1998 – bickering, infighting, coach-hating veterans but veterans nonetheless – and they flopped miserably.

The best American showing in a first round game (aside from 1930) was the 2002 team in South Korea, when the Americans shocked Portugal 3-2.  That was a relatively young team, with a lot of first timers. They didn’t know what they didn’t know and just went out and played. And advanced to the quarterfinals.

Four years later, veterans like Donovan fully understood the pressure and the intensity of the World Cup. He visibly shrank in the spotlight, looking as though he wanted anything but the mantle of Best American Player.

He’s a different player – thanks to his stint in Everton and his cognizance that the sands are slipping through his career hourglass. How Donovan goes, so goes the U.S. It will be fascinating to see if he carries some swagger, or if he shrinks again.

The U.S. can afford a loss. Just not a loss of face.

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