Eddie Lewis was sick of watching everyone else have all the fun. Going into the 2002 World Cup, Lewis had played just once all season. After Fulham were promoted, he was left in the reserves while his mates finished mid-table in the Premier League and reached the semi-final of the FA Cup. He only got to play on the last day, when it didn’t matter. Fulham lost 3-0. It wasn’t very fun.

The World Cup was no reprieve. Lewis was watching from the bench as the USA upset Portugal to qualify from Group D. He got a fifteen-minute cameo against South Korea, coming on as a sub just in time to get an on-pitch view of the hosts’ equaliser.

Even when he was brought into the team for the round of sixteen tie with Mexico, Lewis was given a watching brief, diligently defending at left wing-back as the US attacked down the right to open the scoring early. They barely touched the ball again in the opening 45 minutes. Towards the end of the half, the US coaches could be heard yelling at poor Lewis to get into the game: “Come on, Eddie!”

⬢

To read the rest of this article, you need to join TSB+ — members get access to this plus extra podcast and video episodes, all podcasts advert-free, can read every issue of our magazine online and much more. You can join or log in below.