With an appearance in each of the last FIFA World Cup competitions, and currently ranked 15th by FIFA in the Coca Cola World Rankings, the United States have witnessed their country grow up in the world of soccer which is being ruled by Europe and South America.

The United States' Football Team History

The United States' history of football is quite old. Everything started in 1885 when they played against Canada in the world's first unofficial international game staged outside the UK. The USA lost 1-0 in Newark, New Jersey but took their revenge a year later. The United States defeat Canada by the same score line on the same ground.

The USA had to wait until 1916 before playing their first official match. That was against Sweden in Stockholm, and the United States won the encounter by three goals to two. This friendly match triumph was preceded by the 1904 Summer Olympic Games where the USA emerged as double medalist in the soccer tournament which involved only three teams.

The United States' bright start to international football quickly followed up as the country qualified to the planet's first ever World Cup competition which was hosted by Uruguay.

The Yankees emphatically defeated Belgium 3-0 in Montevideo in their opening game, and repeated this score line against Paraguay. In this game, it was widely believed for years that Bert Patenaude had scored a double with Tom Florie scoring a goal in between to give victory to the Americans. But after some long debates and evidences from historians and football fans, FIFA accredited all the three goals to Patenaude, making him the first man to score a hat-trick in a World Cup.

But after that, terrible things were just about to happen. In the semi-finals of the competition, the USA suffered a heavy 6-1 defeat in the hands of the Argentines. However, they went on to be named by FIFA as the tournament's third place winners.

The United States of America may have had a poor World Cup campaign in 1950, but a 1-0 victory over England - after being thrashed 3-1 against Spain - became one of football's greatest upset in the sport's history. Chile then crushed the USA 5-2 in the final game of the tournament, meaning that the Yankees had been eliminated from the World Cup finals at the very first stage.

This huge disappointment wouldn't go away as the country had to wait forty years before appearing to the World Cup finals for another time.

In the meantime, the USA's track was harder than ever as wins against Haiti, Bermuda, Honduras, Canada, Poland, and China were the Yankees only victories from 1950 to the 1970s.

The USA played only two international games between 1981 and 1983, despite the creation of the North American Soccer League creating some kind of football fever in the country.

The national team was therefore included in the NASL as a way to enhance the players' performances. But after finishing the season at the bottom of the North American Soccer League, Team America (as they were then called in this tournament) withdrew from the league.

The United States' team failed to reach the second round of the 1984 Summer Olympics and their anguish grew when Evaristo Coronado's 35th minute match winner prevented the USA - who only needed a draw - from reaching the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico.

In 1989, it needed the United States some courage and luck - after being criticized as future hosts of the 1994 World Cup - to clinch their first away win in almost two years when they defeated Trinidad and Tobago 1-0 to qualify to the 1990 World Cup finals. It was the country's first appearance in the tournament for 40 years.

But this triumph in the last game of the CONCACAF Championship was the USA's last happy moment as they went to the 1990 World Cup finals with a weak team - due to injury problems - that lost all three games in the group stages of the tournament.

The United State had to quit from the competition with a miserable goal record of 8-3. Moments were so hard for the country's national team at that time, and fate was so harsh on them. But the USA rose up quickly after to win the North America Cup, the 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup, and the U.S. Cup after avoiding defeat against Ireland, Portugal, and Italy.

The 1994 World Cup on home soil was said to be a great opportunity for the USA who had done so badly in the last decades.

They opened the tournament with a 1-1 draw against Switzerland. This result was followed with a 2-1 victory against Colombia. In this match, Colombia's Andres Escobar scored an own-goal which helped the USA to win the game. The guilty man was then murdered in Colombia as a result of his mistake, perhaps.

The USA lost 1-0 against Romania but still made it to the next round, only to succumb once again by the same score line against Brazil - who went on to lift the cup.

In the 1998 World Cup, the USA were ranked 32nd in the field of 32 after losing all their group stages game to Germany, Iran, and Yugoslavia. All the criticism over the team's poor performance fell on the coach, Steve Sampson, who had omitted the likes of Captain John Harkes and other players who were key in the USA's road to the promise land.

Things changed however in the 21st century with new coach Bruce Arena. The USA hosted and won the Gold Cup tournament in 2002 and built up in strength ahead of the World Cup in Korea-Japan. There, the United States were endlessly praised for reaching being quarterfinalists. A narrow 1-0 defeat against runners-up Germany saw their unbelievable dream come to an end.

The Yankees then followed their impressive World Cup campaign with success in the 2005 Gold Cup tournament.

But in 2006, the USA suffered a shock. A 3-0 emphatic loss to the Czech Republic in their opening game left them with a lot of work to do to progress to the next round. They drew 1-1 against Italy in an ugly game marked by heavy fouls and wrong decisions from the match officials.

The Yankees had to win against Ghana to progress to the next round, but they surprising lost 2-1 against the West African - whom Captain London Donovan had earlier described as unthreatening in an interview before the tournament.

Bruce Arena was later replaced by his assistant Bob Bradley after the United States' disappointing early exit from the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

With Bob Bradley, the USA's weaknesses seemed to disappear. The team set some long unbeaten runs and despite a miserable Copa America in 2007, the Yankees can contemplate a lot of success in the CONCACAF region.

How the United States of America qualified to the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa

The USA won the 2007 Gold Cup in dramatic fashion to qualify to this year's Confederations Cup in South Africa. The USA started very well in the group stages of the 2007 Gold Cup, recording three victories out of three against Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, and El Salvador. This good form followed up with a 2-1 win against Panama in the quarterfinals. They met Canada in the semis and beat them by the same score line before triumphing 2-1 again in the final against Mexico despite being a goal down.

USA's star player and key players

The USA's main force lies between the hands of their 27-year-old influential captain, Landon Donovan. The LA Galaxy striker is his country's all-time top scorer with 37 goals and has earned over 105 caps for his country.

His teammate Brian McBride is also an important force upfront alongside the Ghanaian-born striker Freddy Adu.

The United States can also boast of an experienced and world-class keeper in Everton's Tim Howard. The Toffee has shown some great form throughout this season in the English Premiership - emerging as the hero of the penalty shootout against Manchester United in this year's FA Cup semifinals.

How bright will these players shine in the Confederations Cup?