Much like when he was part of the build-up of a goal, John O'Brien was fueled by the anticipation of making his U.S. Men’s National Team debut in April 1998.

He took a short flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands - where the midfielder played for the legendary Dutch club Ajax - to Vienna, where the Americans were preparing to meet Austria in a World Cup warm-up. He met up with his teammates, who flew in from various countries.

With the USA clinging to a 1-0 lead in the second half, head coach Steve Sampson told O'Brien, then all of 20, to get ready. He was going to replace Frankie Hejduk.

While standing near the fourth official, O'Brien said that he remembered "feeling really excited and 'I want to get onto this team.' I wasn't too nervous. I was more excited to get onto the field. I remember feeling like, 'Oh, this is something I wanted to happen earlier.'

"Being kind of a younger kid [with] a lot of adults, wanting to come on and mark my mark."











WATCH: John O’Brien Discusses His USMNT Debut in 1998

This happened 22 years ago on April 22, 1998 as the Americans recorded a 3-0 triumph against Austria -- their first victory on European soil in nearly seven years, a 2-0 win at Romania on Aug. 28, 1991.

If it were a storybook debut, O'Brien would have scored a goal, but that wasn't in the cards that night at Ernst Happel Stadion. The Playa del Rey, Calif. native thought that he could have celebrated one in the 89th minute.

"There was one play where Brian McBride kind of played through and I was in the center of the field," O'Brien said. "I think Austria thought he was offside, but he wasn't. I ran through. Brian could have just passed it to me. I remember: Pass! Pass! Pass! I was yelling at him. I wanted to get a goal. It would have been a tap-in but he just took it himself and scored."

Of course, O’Brien knew that McBride’s job was to score, as he had a nose for the goal.

A series of injuries in his career limited O’Brien to a total of 32 appearances for the Red, White and Blue, leaving many to wonder what could have been produced by one of the most talented players ever to wear the U.S. uniform.