We all know about the rivalry between the USA and Russia. Besides, in 1980, almost a decade after the Marshall plan (Cold War), the situation between them was still rough. These two powerhouses had been deeply at loggerheads over the implementation of their political systems in Western Europe. Not many contretemps that would detriment their relationship took place. Besides the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviets in 1979 that is. Anyhow, I would like to get to the crux of this writing now. Hockey has always been big not only in Europe, but also in North America. Let us say that during that time the rivalry between the bullies of the Americas and Europe, was transferred into the pitch. The Soviets had the best team on earth. Whereas the Americans had just gathered a bunch of strong-willed college boys to form their national team. What was the reason for these teams to train so hard even before 1980?. The winter Olympics' were about to start. The American had to work really hard to bolster their reputations. On the other hand, the year of the Olympics, the Soviets had just won a world cup. They seemed unbeatable. No defense was good enough to guard against their attacks. Further, The Soviets´ relationship with their coach was not so good.  Therefore, these guys got cocky. The Americans had been progressing little by little. Their coach had chosen the best college hockey players he could find. They even managed to win the Pre-Olympic tournament. Notwithstanding, their toughest challenge was yet to come. Three days before the winter Olympics, the US and Russia played an exhibitions game. The Soviets crushed the Americans by 10 to 3 that day. Ergo they became even cockier. The Americans did not try to overcompensate for anything. They just kept training hard. The big day finally came. These two teams got matched in the semi-finals. The Americans had a Herculean task to achieve. After the Russians got ahead at the beginning of the first period, they just waited for it to finish. However, The American evened the score by the end of it. The Russian coach was so mad that he switched the best goalie in the world for the second period. The American pulled off the unthinkable. They got to beat the Soviets 4 to 3 by scoring at the last minute. Since the game was not broadcasted live, American office workers filed in trying to get home and watch the game at night. Whereas, the Russians found out about the score the next Saturday morning. By the way, this game was known such as ¨The miracle on ice¨. Due to the fact that the underdogs (US team), were able to outsmart and beat the big bullies (Russian team). Nonetheless, there was one more game to be played. The Americans had to face Finland in the final. Only one team was going to be able to sashay out of the field  (Madison Square Garden)  with the gold medal. The Finns took the lead by 2 to 1. That is why during the intermission, the American coach told his team as follows. " If you lose this game, you will take that failure to your grave" Motivated by their coach's words the underdog team went on to score two more times and take the gold medal...