First CAFTA, now this...

The silence on the city streets was stunning. It was as if all of Guatemala had called it an early evening and went to bed with a mild headache. There was, to mix sports metaphors, no joy in Mudville last night.

The Guatemalan national soccer team faced the U.S. team yesterday in a World Cup elimination competition. The "chapines" lost to the "gringos" 2-0 in an exciting, and fairly evenly matched, game.

I'm not a big sports fan, but this year is something special for Guatemala. If they manage to end up in the top three teams of their division (which also includes Mexico, the US, Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago, and Panama) they will qualify for the 2006 World Cup to be held in Germany.

If they qualify, it will be the first time in....um, let's see.... EVER! Which is why the entire country has Futbol Fever.

Last Saturday, Guatemala whupped Trinidad & Tobago, 5-1. I swear, every time the Guatemalans scored a goal the entire city erupted in cheers, like human thunder. Once the game was over, the human lightening took over with spontaneous displays of fireworks brightening the city skyscape.

Last night there were no cheers, no fireworks... only a resounding quiet. One interesting detail of the story, though, caught my attention this morning. The United States team, in a effort to maintain as much home field advantage as possible, decided to hold the match in a place as far from latinos as possible... Birmingham, Alabama.

But read what happened:

Guatemala draws a crowd
By Steve Davis / The Dallas Morning News

Birmingham, Ala. – What made for a splendid soccer atmosphere at Legion Field did not exactly create the optimum competitive advantage for the home team.

Guatemala remains in decent shape to make its first World Cup finals, which would be epochal stuff in the small, Central American nation.

And transplanted Guatemalans now living in the United States certainly are embracing their big chance at the big time.

Although the percentage of affiliation was difficult to estimate, about half the 31,624 fan appeared to support Guatemala, and they did so with some righteous, come-early, get-loud passion.

U.S. Soccer officials incorrectly predicted a midweek match in the Deep South would make it difficult for Guatemalan-Americans to travel. U.S. census figures show just 1.6 percent of the Birmingham area's population is Latino, and only a small percentage of that is Guatemalan.

U.S. manager Bruce Arena was philosophical when asked about the seemingly inverted scene – Guatemalan supporters generally being louder that the Americans.

"We have a great country," he said, talking up the melting pot and the transplants' passion for the game and their homelands.

The road to Germany is a long and winding one... so stay tuned!