Back in March, I called up U.S. Soccer and told them we’d like to do a story on the men’s team heading into the World Cup. Never mind that they hadn’t yet qualified for the tournament. We kept the faith, and from there it was a maze of logistics and email and phone calls as we tried to wrangle a bunch of top-level athletes into interviews and photoshoots on two different continents. It was worth it in the end to tell the story of this young team—the second youngest we’ve ever sent to a World Cup—that represents a generation of American soccer players who are unlike any who have come before. The key players in our midfield and attack play for some of the biggest clubs in Europe. They’ve been over there since their teens learning to play like kids in countries with far grander soccer traditions do. And they have the chance over the next few weeks to change the way the world views American soccer. They can start by showing England, on the day after Thanksgiving, that they no longer belong at the kids’ table. You can find our story on Esquire.com today, and on newsstands on November 27—my birthday. Grab one for yourself as a present to me.