For John Brooks, it turned out to be a dream in more than one sense. Not only did he score the winner for the USA in a crucial World Cup finals match but he claims that he had dreamed about that scenario occurring.

But is the dream of growing the sport still alive in the US?

We spoke to Jack Bell of the New York Times and he is optimistic about its future.

"There will always be people in the United States who will discount it but it doesn't really matter anymore because there is this mass of fans who don't care what anyone else thinks anymore. They're totally into the sport and here in the States, it's a very young demographic," said Bell, who says the "growth is inexorable".

Bell admitted that Americans are very results-oriented and defended manager Jurgen Klinsmann's admission that the USA could not win the World Cup.

He also feels that reaching the second round would be a fine achievement and pondered whether the MLS can ride the wave of interest generated by the World Cup.