It has been almost a full year since Tony Sanneh’s header ran into the side netting, and the whistle blew on a brilliant run by the United States in the 2002 World Cup.

That 1—0 loss to Germany in the Cup quarterfinals last June 21 meant two awful things — first, the U.S. side had to go home after its furthest advance in 72 years.

Second, it meant the men’s national team would be taking a long break from truly meaningful competition.

Eight friendly matches later, it’s been a long year for national teams fans like myself.

A bit of an aside here, first. I’m not certain that I qualify as a soccer fan, since I don’t keep track of where the beautiful game is played best (in Europe).

Obviously, it’s hard to follow the European leagues. About one game a week is televised, there’s no newspaper coverage, and it takes a dedicated fan to scour the Web for daily updates about the games.

So I’ve resigned myself to the fact that my consumption of soccer will be limited to MLS games and international matches, most of which feature the U.S. team.

Some purists will tell you that means I’m not a true fan. Well, if I’m a fan of convenience, then so be it, but that doesn’t mean I’ve not been missing my fill of U.S. games over the past year.

At last, though, the end is in sight. Three games in five days this weekend — the Confederations Cup in France.

The competition clearly isn’t the World Cup in terms of importance, or even World Cup qualifying. Most of the teams involved are proving that by leaving top players off their rosters to finish club seasons or to rest. Most notable is the absence of the top two scorers in Japan and South Korea, Brazil’s Ronaldo and Rivaldo. For the United States, four veterans who shined last June won’t be along on the trip — goalkeeper Brad Friedel, the biggest reason for U.S. success, midfielder John O’Brien, who scored the first tally in the U.S. upset of Portugal, team captain Claudio Reyna, and blond-haired air power Brian McBride.

But, big-name players are always missing in international games, whether due to injuries, suspensions, or, as in this case, other commitments. None of the countries in the eight-team tournament will be completely devoid of talent, and, as U.S. coach Bruce Arena pointed out, the chance to see some new younger talent is a reason to be excited.

“We have many new faces. We believe this is a good time to start building up for qualifying next year,” Arena told the Associated Press.

I’ll be happy to take in 270 minutes of action on Thursday, Saturday and Monday no matter what the result. A fair question, though, is whether the United States will advance out of their group for June 26 semifinals.

That’s a tough one.

Two of the top three finishers in the World Cup — Brazil and Turkey — inhabit the United States’ group. Their final opponent, Cameroon, is always dangerous and might have easily advanced last summer had they not been in a group with runners-up Germany and Ireland.

Teams are wont to bemoan their assignment to a particular tournament’s “Group of Death” (as members of three groups did in the World Cup), but in this case I think it’s justified.

Arena, in his usual belligerent manner, dismissed any notion that U.S. opponents will be “watered down” for the Confederations Cup.

“Ronaldinho? Kleber? Lucio? Edu? These are not good players?” Arena asked.

“There are very good players in every team. Everyone takes this tournament seriously,” he said. “The team Brazil puts on the field against us on Saturday will still be one of the best in the world.”

Interestingly, the tournament returns the U.S. squad to the site of their 1998 World Cup disaster, when the Americans finished last in that year’s 32-team field. Nobody has really said much about this, and the U.S. players clearly don’t want to talk about it.

So I’ve decided not to be concerned about a repeat of that fiasco either. I just want to see some U.S. soccer, however it shakes out.