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As he prepared to start in the U.S. Men’s National Team’s decisive World Cup Qualifying match on Sept. 3, 2005, veteran midfielder Steve Ralston approached the game like he would any other.

With a chance to clinch a berth at the 2006 FIFA World Cup against rivals Mexico, the size of the occasion only hit the 31-year-old as the team bus turned the final corner into Columbus Crew Stadium. “Wow, this is big,” Ralston recalled saying to himself as the bus rode through a large sea of red, white and blue into the stadium. “There were so many people there so early. Hours before the game, people on both sides were out in numbers. To see the American support was tremendous.

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It always felt good, but more so for this game.” It was quite a scene for a player whose earlier career wouldn’t predict he would be any more than a spectator at the match. A native of soccer-mad St. Louis, Ralston was a spot starter for Oakville High School and barely cracked the first XI during his freshman year at Forest Park Community College.

Not a bad player, but also not one you’d pick out as a future National Team contributor. A successful transfer to Florida International University in 1993 changed things, leading to the right-sided attacker becoming a prime prospect for Major League Soccer’s inaugural season in 1996.

With an uncanny ability to serve a ball from the right and pop up at opportune moments, Ralston carved out a fine career with the Tampa Bay Mutiny and New England Revolution in the league’s nascent years. His early play earned him sporadic call-ups to the MNT under both Steve Sampson and later Bruce Arena, but he only received a regular role in the side six years after his initial debut. MNT midfielder Steve Ralston celebrates DaMarcus Beasley's goal vs. Mexico that gave the USA a 2-0 win in World Cup Qualifying on Sept. Coming off a strong season with the Revolution in 2004, Ralston enjoyed an extended run with the MNT in 2005, as his ability on the right side allowed Arena to push Landon Donovan further up the field in an attacking midfield or withdrawn forward role. Having helped the USA to its third Gold Cup title earlier that summer, Ralston actually tied Donovan for most appearances with 15 that year. “I hadn’t played a whole lot of qualifiers previous to that year, maybe one or two,” said Ralston, who appeared in eight final round World Cup qualifiers that year.

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“I’d been around the National Team for a number of years, but I never really had the opportunity to play in the big games, so for me, being included against Mexico was a great thing to be a part of.” A scoreless first half was best-remembered for some of the physical altercations between USA defender Oguchi Onyewu and Mexico forward Jared Borgetti. Coming out of the locker room at the break, Ralston said he remembered how much the U.S. Worked on set pieces in the week leading up to the match. With dead-ball servers Eddie Lewis, Claudio Reyna and Donovan all on the field, his role on the night was to find space in the box when those opportunities presented themselves. All the practice paid off in the 53rd minute. Lewis swung in a left-footed free kick that Onyewu rose above Mexico defender Francisco Rodriguez to head off the left post.

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