Back in 2005, DaMarcus Beasley didn't think of himself as a trailblazer. He wasn't thinking about being the first American to play in the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League, or how doing so might eventually pave the way for future U.S. players. He was just a 22-year-old midfielder trying to make his way through his first season in Europe with PSV Eindhoven.
"I didn't know the significance of it until now," he told ESPN by telephone. "I was just trying to win, trying to play well in Europe at a big club. There was no media really around my run, so it was pretty easy to kind of not get caught up in the hype.