The first decade of soccer in the new millennium was one of awakenings and departures, of arrivals and goodbyes, some moving and affecting, at least one moment stunning in its transgression. Until the 2002 World Cup, the co-host South Korea had never won a match in soccer's world championship. Then it won its opening game, 2-0 over Poland, and eventually became the first Asian country to reach the semifinals. An insecure country became transformed and self-confident. You could see the collective chest swelling. Fans gathered in plazas by the millions to watch their team on giant television screens. Even North Korea got in the spirit and started showing pirated games on state-run television. Guus Hiddink, the Dutch coach of the South Korean national team, became a cultural icon. He coached with a curious idea, choosing players based on merit, not family lineage and academic backgrounds. He taught his players that individual flair was OK and that the collective could be inhibiting. Corporations began broadcasting his words to their workers. According to news accounts, Hiddink was rewarded with honorary citizenship, free flights for life on a South Korean airline, and a villa on a private island, and had a World Cup stadium renamed in his honor. Also at the 2002 World Cup, before Brazil won its fifth title, the United States advanced out of the group stage. In the second round, the Americans used three backs instead of four, counterattacked in the wilting heat and defeated Mexico, 2-0. This prompted Mexico's coach, Javier Aguirre, who was under enormous pressure to speak Spanish in public, to tell the American manager, Bruce Arena, in English, 'You have a good team.' In the quarterfinals, the United States lost to Germany, 1-0, and was forever left wondering about a noncall on a hand ball by midfielder Torsten Frings. When Mia Hamm retired in 2004, she did not receive a villa on a private island, but maybe she should have. Hamm retired as soccer's career leading international scorer, male or female, with 158 goals. She won two Olympic gold medals and two World Cup titles. The world's largest sporting event for women -- the 1999 Women's World Cup -- was built almost entirely on her reputation. And Hamm, more than anyone else, represented the possibilities available to female athletes after the passage in 1972 of the gender-equity legislation known as Title IX. She transcended her sex; she was not a female soccer player, just a soccer player, the most widely known one in the United States, man or woman. 'I think she is our most important female athlete ever,' said Anson Dorrance, who coached Hamm to four NCAA titles at North Carolina. The 2006 World Cup in Germany also brought a transformative moment. For the first time since World War II, many Germans waved the national flag and learned the words to the national anthem without feeling self-conscious. The tournament was infused with a celebrative atmosphere, at least until the final, when Zinedine Zidane of France shockingly head-butted the chest of the Italian defender Marco Materazzi. Apparently, Materazzi made a rude comment about Zidane's sister. If the ploy was to unnerve Zidane, it worked to triple effect. Zidane was tossed from the match, perhaps cost his team the World Cup and undercut his reputation as perhaps the greatest player of the past two decades. Another stirring moment for U.S. soccer occurred at the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa, when the U.S. men reached the final of an important international competition for the first time. In the semifinals, the United States defeated top-ranked Spain, and players removed their jerseys in the frigid weather and twirled them over their heads. Then the Americans took a two-goal lead over Brazil in the final before losing, 3-2. Yet the match was a watershed moment for the American television audience, which outdrew the average 2006 World Series audience by a million viewers. Was it a real awakening? Can the United States play with the best teams in the world when it counts? Or will it lead to another early departure at the 2010 World Cup? 