Jonathan Spector is looking forward to representing the United States in their first ever final in a major tournament after they reached the FIFA Confederations Cup final with a fantastic 2-0 victory over European champions Spain.
The Americans pulled off arguably the best result in their history as a goal in each half from Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey put paid to the Spaniards in Bloemfontein, South Africa, on Wednesday evening.
The West Ham United full-back played an important part in a resilient defensive display from Bob Bradley's side, working hard to keep the likes of Fernando Torres, David Villa, Cesc Fabregas and Xavi at bay.
Spector, 23, had his work cut out marking Liverpool winger Albert Riera and later Valencia wideman Mata, but responded with a disciplined, whole-hearted performance.
"I think after the second goal you could tell they were, not panicking, but just that they needed to get one back quickly," said Spector. "We all knew that if we could hold them for five minutes that we would have a great chance of going on to win the game. At that point I'd say is when I could feel it.
"It was certainly a hard fought win and it took the entire team defending, not just the back-four, we needed our midfielders and even the front runners. We knew they wanted to go through middle so we forced them wide and defended whatever crosses came in. It was successful for us."
Victory carried the United States through to face Brazil in Sunday's final in Johannesburg. There, Spector and his team-mates will be battling for the first major international trophy in his nation's history.
The Hammers defender was part of the American team that won the CONCACAF Gold Cup in his home city of Chicago for the fourth time in 2007, but success at the Confederations Cup would mark the greatest ever achievement in US football.
"It's certainly a huge win for us, probably one of the biggest that the team has had," said Spector. "It's our first major final and beating a team like Spain is a great result, especially with their win streak.
"Well we certainly hope that we'll gain a few fans who will watch the final, and we hope that we can turn in another good performance like we just had."
The United States have overcome a number of obstacles to reach Sunday's showpiece, losing their opening two matches before turning round a six-goal swing - with the help of Brazil's 3-0 win over Italy - to qualify for the semi-finals.
Spector has played all 360 minutes of the Americans' run to the final, appearing at right-back in the Group B fixtures against Italy, Brazil and Egypt - setting up Dempsey's vital third goal in a 3-0 victory with a pinpoint cross - as well as Wednesday's emotional success against Spain.
Before the tournament, the former U17 and U20 international was expected to play second-fiddle to regular starters Steve Cherundolo and Frankie Hejduk, but injuries to both have opened the door for Spector to win his 18th cap in the biggest game in his country's history.
"There have definitely been changes to the back four recently and it's not easy, obviously, when there isn't as much cohesiveness because we haven't all played together as much. I think the entire team dealt with it really well," he said.
Sunday's final will be screened live on BBC3 on Sunday evening, with kick-off at 7.30pm.