The United States has long been a Third World country when it comes to soccer. While there have been a few instances to indicate Americans are slowly leveling the playing field on an international level, the country has never seriously threatened to win the World Cup, nor has it ever medaled in Olympic Soccer.

The next chance for a World Cup run is 2010 — but the United States is currently in the running for a medal in the Beijing Games.

And a pair of players who honed their craft in the Palmetto State are key factors in what Americans hope will be a “Miracle On Grass.”

Former Clemson standout Stuart Holden and ex-South Carolina goalkeeper Brad Guzan have already had an impact on the 2008 Games. Holden scored the lone goal in the United States’ opening victory over Japan, while Guzan secured a shutout in that match.

Early Wednesday morning the pair will be on the field again when the U.S. takes on Nigeria, and a victory or draw will move the Red, White and Blue on to the knockout round.

The Americans hold a tiebreaker edge over Nigeria, although the two clubs have 4 points each. The Netherlands has 2 points and the winless Japanese are out of the mix. Should Holland lose to Japan, both the United States and Nigeria will advance to the knockout round regardless of the outcome of their contest.

“Coming into the tournament I think we were considered underdogs in this group,” Holden said. “I think we’ve really kind of made our mark on this group and the other teams are taking us a little more seriously after our first two performances. I think Nigeria will know that we’re a formidable opponent. We have confidence in our group and I think we can take a lot of positives (from a 2-2 draw with the Netherlands) that will help us in that next game.”

Holland scored in stoppage time to prevent a U.S. victory, one that would’ve automatically put Peter Nowak’s team through. Still, as lightly regarded as the team was heading into the Beijing Games, it was a head-turning performance.

Guzan chalks up the Netherlands’ equalizer as merely an unfortunate defensive gamble that didn’t pay off.

“Going into that situation, knowing it’s basically going to be the last chance of the game, as a goalkeeper you’ve got to trust the wall and unfortunately the wall decided they were going to go up and over and they went under,” Guzan said. “We jumped and he hit a screamer low and hard, and when that happens there’s not much chance as my main focus is the other side of the goal. Unfortunately, we just picked the wrong option.”

The United State has qualified for Olympic Soccer 12 times, and the 2000 Games afforded the Americans’ best medal chance as they advanced to the semifinals. And while earning a spot on the podium remains a long shot, the team controls its own destiny.

One negative heading into the match against Nigeria is that forward Freddy Adu and midfielder Michael Bradley will be unavailable after being issued their second yellow cards against the Netherlands. That means the pair can’t see action again unless the U.S. moves into the quarterfinals.

“They’re two important players, but this is a strong team from one to 18 and we know we have guys who can step in, fill those roles and help us get a win from Nigeria,” Holden said. “Obviously we would like to have them out there but we can’t worry about that.”

Guzan adds that the team can’t let the players’ absence be a distraction.

“Our main focus right now is Nigeria,” he said. “It’s not going to be easy. We need to make sure we regroup physically, we’ll be fine mentally, and make sure we go and get three points against Nigeria in Beijing.”

The showdown is set for 5 a.m. Wednesday.

“We have some unfinished business, and we’ll go into Wednesday’s game against Nigeria fully prepared,” Nowak said. “Any result other than a loss will give us a pass to the quarterfinals. Maybe we should have taken care of this business (against the Netherlands) but before this game I don’t think anyone gave us a chance to play the game like we did against the European Champions.

“Let’s not forget about that. They’re the European Champions and we came close to beating them. I gave the boys a big compliment in the locker room.”