World Cup: Dramatic Reactions to USA Goal on YouTube

June 26, 2010— -- Few moments in sports compare to a game-winning goal in soccer.

In the United States, a walk-off home run or a hail-Mary pass into the end zone as time expires have traditionally been more popular, but if the latest Youtube sensation is any indication, Americans are starting to develop a soft spot for soccer.

Robby Donoho, a 21-year-old senior at Purdue University, put together a video of fans' reactions to Landon Donovan's winning goal in the United States' World Cup match against Algeria on Wednesday.

The video, which he called "The World's Reaction to Landon Donovan's Game Winning Goal", has exploded in popularity since he posted it on Youtube on Thursday afternoon.

Donovan's goal came in the last four minutes of the match. It catapulted the United States from potential elimination to a first-place finish in its group. It is now moving to the knockout stage of the 2010 World Cup.

The video has even reached Donovan, the player who inspired it. He is the captain of the United States soccer team, and he posted a link to the video on his Facebook page: "Not sure if you guys saw this but it brings tears to my eyes every time. Thank you all so much...we can't do it without you guys. Believe."

American tennis star Andy Roddick also posted it on his Twitter page.

Reactions From Kentucky to France to South Africa Caught on Video

Robby Donoho never thought the video would become this popular.

"Never in my wildest dreams would I think that the guy that scored that goal…would see the video," Donoho said. "It's been incredible."

Donoho first got the idea for the video when a friend sent him one of the clips of people reacting to the goal. Then, Donoho said he thought, "Wouldn't it be great to put together all these great reactions into one video?"

The fans in the video wave American flags, chant "USA! USA! USA!" and hug those around them. Donoho compiled videos he found on Youtube that showed fans reacting to the goal everywhere from Covington, Kentucky to Lyon, France to Durban, South Africa, and even "some dude in Arkansas" who filmed himself watching the game at home.

That "dude" is Nathan Jones of Fayetteville, Arkansas. He was one of the first to post a video of his reactions on the internet.

YouTube Video Draws More Than 400,000 Views

Donoho said he has received messages from people from all over America and the world thanking him for making the video.

"They all have pretty much said the same thing," Donoho said, "That the video brought tears to their eyes and they were truly inspired."

He said his inspiration for filming the video came from noticing his sister's reactions during the Americans' previous game, against Slovenia. He placed his Flip video camera next to his television in preparation for the game against Algeria.

"When we score, and I thought we would…I'll have this cool reaction and I'll post it up and a few of my friends will see it on Facebook," he said. "I had no idea that it would get the response that it did."

The videos show that Americans are coming together to watch soccer as never before, and Jones is excited about that.

"It's great to see how soccer can unite us as a country," he said.