The summer of 1994 was notable for many things: the withdrawal of Russian and American troops from Berlin, the O.J. Simpson trial, the release of Craig Mack’s “Flava in Ya Ear.” It was also the year that the U.S. hosted the World Cup, and modern soccer in the U.S. was born. Led at the back by the no-nonsense defender Alexi Lalas—with his long orange mane—and at the front by versatile midfielder Cobi Jones—with his trademark wild locks—the USMNT combined a counter-attacking style of play with a strong physical presence to forge the identity of the American game. Not only did they establish the U.S. brand of soccer on the pitch, they brought the game to a broader American consciousness in the process.

Expected to host but not make an impact on the tournament itself, the United States had to fight for respect both on the pitch and off. The team reached the knockout stage for the first time since 1930, and gave eventual champions Brazil all they could handle in the Round of 16 before succumbing in a 1-0 defeat in front of 84,000 spectators at Stanford Stadium. Twelve-year-old Kyle Beckerman wasn’t at that game, but he did convince his parents to make the trip to RFK Stadium in Washington D.C. for a match between Saudi Arabia and Belgium in the group stage. “It wasn’t a headlining game,” he remembers, “but a really good goal was scored by Saudi Arabia and it was an awesome experience to be a part of it.”

Born in suburban Crofton, Maryland, Beckerman started cultivating his signature dreadlocks at an early age. His hair first started knotting up in middle school, and while he didn’t mind being the proverbial “white guy with dreads,” his mother wasn’t so crazy about the idea. “I’d have maybe one or two,” he recalls. “Mom would find out and she’d be like, ‘Get in there and rip those out.’” But as with soccer, so with hairstyles: Beckerman has always understood the power of persistence.

In 1990, while other 8-year-olds were engrossed with Super Mario Bros, Beckerman started taping World Cup matches on his parents’ VCR. The United States was playing in the tournament for the first time since 1950. “I watched every match on video,” he remembers. “The U.S. played a great game against Italy. It was the first time in ages we’d been to the World Cup.”

Four years later the U.S. hosted its first World Cup, and Kyle covered his bedroom walls with posters of the U.S. team’s biggest players. “Tony Meola, Alexi Lalas, Eric Wynalda, Tab Ramos—they were all heroes to me.”

Beckerman told himself that he wanted to be a pro when he grew up, but he didn’t really know what professional soccer was. Major League Soccer had only been founded the year before (in part to attract the World Cup), and wouldn’t start play until 1996. What he really meant was that he wanted to be on the national team. “I just wanted to wear the awesome uniforms,” he recalls. Even the ’94 squad’s infamous denim kits didn’t dampen his enthusiasm. “It didn’t matter what the jersey looked like. It’s the crest—that’s what it’s all about. If that crest is there, the jersey is going to work.”

A standout player at Arundel High School, Beckerman traveled with the U.S. junior team to New Zealand in 1999 to play in the Under-17 World Cup. The U.S.’s participation in the tournament was part of a larger strategy to establish American soccer on a global level. “The goal was to win the World Cup in 2010,” he says. “That involved huge youth investment. We were sent all over the place—Germany, Austria, you name it. We were just little high schoolers, but we had this mindset that we were representing U.S. soccer. We wanted to show everyone that we can play soccer in America. We were naive, but when we were going against big soccer countries we thought, We’re going to kick their butt. We were able to beat a lot of countries. We took a lot of skins.”

Beckerman signed with the fledgling MLS the following year, skipping college to join the since-defunct Miami Fusion. He moved to the Colorado Rapids in his third professional season, and was traded to his current club, Real Salt Lake, in 2007. During his career, Beckerman has seen MLS grow from an afterthought into a healthy, expanding entity. “When I first got into the league there were 12 teams, then we went down to 10, and there was nobody in soccer stadiums,” he recalls. “Now we’re at 19 teams, and we’re packing out crowds.”

Despite being a five-time MLS All-Star and captaining Real Salt Lake to the league championship in 2009, Beckerman was not selected to play for the national team at the 2010 World Cup. As in other countries, America’s top professional players compete for spots on their respective national teams. Beckerman refuses to speculate why then-coach Bob Bradley didn’t pick him for the 2010 squad, which lost to Ghana in the Round of 16. “When it gets to the national level everybody’s good,” he says. “So it becomes coach’s preference. I wasn’t in his plans, and that’s just the way it is.”

This time around Beckerman will be making his Cup debut under new coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who appreciates his persistence and work ethic. “Kyle is a role model of maximizing everything he has,” Klinsmann has said. “If I need someone to point to and show another player how to maximize your potential then you look at Kyle, because that is why he is here.” Leading by example, Beckerman lets his play and work ethic do the talking.

Beckerman isn’t just well-suited to be the flag bearer for Major League Soccer in the United States; the role was tailor-made for him. There are other stars on the team: midfielder Michael Bradley, forward/attacking midfielder Clint Dempsey, and winger Landon Donovan. But Beckerman is the anchor of the US midfield—and he’s spent 14 years fighting for club and for country, at home and abroad.

Although he played for the U.S. in last year’s Gold Cup—the tournament that decides the CONCACAF championship—as well as the World Cup qualifiers, Beckerman’s main goal has been simply to win a seat on the plane to Brazil, right up until the lineups were announced last week. Now he’s ready to put aside his humility. “We want to go there and try to rock the boat a little,” he says. “We want to see if we can do something special.”