This column originally ran in The Standard-Times on June 22, 2014.

By Nick Tavares

The United States is taking on Portugal today in each team's second match of this World Cup. Portugal is favored, but going in limping. The U.S., as usual, has nothing to lose. And the whole thing has a very retro vibe.

No one's at 100 percent. Striker Jozy Altidore won't be able to suit up for the U.S. thanks to an injured left hamstring. Portugal will be without Fabio Coentrao and Hugo Almedia on the injury side, and Pepe, who will serve out the rest of the red card he earned in an inexplicable brain fart against Germany.

But just in feel, this tournament seems to be giving off the same impressions as the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, where the United States pulled off a major upset nine time zones away.

There was a lot of waking up at 2 and 5 a.m. that summer. Bleary eyed and not yet in the throes of my now-daily coffee habit, I would drag myself downstairs to the living room, hopefully not to miss more than the first five minutes. My dad would already be there — he's incapable of sleeping in.

On the morning of June 5, I missed the earlier South Korea-Poland game and arrived about five minutes late to see that John O'Brien had already scored off a corner kick to give the U.S. a 1-0 advantage over Portugal. The excitement from announcer Jack Edwards was transferred onto my dad on the couch.

This is a mild point of contention with some other members of my family — uncles, cousins and the like. But since moving to New Bedford with his family from São Miguel in 1968, he's generally pulled for the U.S., including when they meet Portugal in any kind of match. There's plenty of rooting for Portugal otherwise, but as he'd tell you, this is home now, and you root for the home team.

My dad has a history of antagonistic soccer support. Early on, he supported Sporting Portugal, in the face of everyone else pulling for Benfica, but by the time Sporting played the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium in 2004, he was supporting the Revs without hesitation. They were the home team, and the underdogs, and they had something to prove.

The last piece of that equation might be the biggest. I have plenty of family members who will tell you Americans don't belong on the same field as the Portuguese, and a lot of times, they've been right. But constantly hearing that can build up this defiant stance that makes what happened 12 years ago so satisfying.

In the 29th minute, a cross by a young Landon Donovan ricocheted off of Jorge Costa past keeper Vítor Baía for the second goal. Brian McBride's diving header make it 3-0 five minutes later.

Beto got Portugal on the board before the half was out, and an own-goal by Jeff Agoos brought them within one, but the U.S. held on for a 3-2 win and a rousing start to their most successful World Cup to date.

Edwards' call in the closing seconds — "Mine eyes have seen the glory! The United States has shocked Portugal!" — foreshadowed the brilliance he would later display as the Boston Bruins' play-by-play many years later.

The group stage ended with South Korea and the U.S. moving on, and Portugal, via a 1-0 loss to the hosts, closed the door on its Golden Generation. Figo and Nuno Gomes would go on to play in the 2006 World Cup, but Baía would be passed over for Euro 2004, where Rui Costa played his final international games. João Pinto found himself suspended and eventually exiled after hitting a referee in that final 2002 loss.

This feels like the closing of another era for Portugal, with another all-world player flanked by a suddenly aging group that has yet to capitalize in a major tournament. Meanwhile, the U.S. seems to be at the start of another journey and looking to make noise in this World Cup and set up another run for 2018.

That's the future, though, and though it's an especially vivid moment in memory, 2002 is the past. Yet there are constants. Portugal is perpetually juggling adversity and sky-high expectations to finally bring home a trophy. The United States is, as always, the upstart looking to make noise.

And my dad will be on the living room couch, rooting for them to pull off the upset.

Nick Tavares' column appears Sundays in The Standard-Times and at SouthCoastToday.com. He can be reached at nick@nicktavares.com