SEATTLE — Mauricio Pochettino walked toward the tunnel at Lumen Field several minutes after the final whistle sounded on the U.S. men’s national team’s 2-0 win over Australia, absorbing the party going on around him.There were fans dressed in red, white and blue overalls and in tricorner hats and Revolutionary garb, some in the red-and-white striped jerseys of this team and others in the denim blue of 1994, all roaring John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” to celebrate something no U.S. team had accomplished since 1930.Pochettino took a few more steps and then paused, waving his arms at the crowd. He pumped his fists in the air and then waved again. Then he started to chant at the crowd, “U-S-A!” and they yelled back with him.It was a reflection of a fanbase that is starting to believe — and not just the ones in the stadium on Friday, but millions around the country. There are plenty of reasons for the positivity. For the first time in nearly a century, an American team has won two World Cup group games, back to back no less. A generation billed as “golden” is finally delivering performances that match that reputation. And a team that has always insisted it can do something special now has people dreaming that, too.“We need to keep believing and approach every single day like we did from day one: Believing we could win,” Pochettino said after the game. “Knowing we need to work really hard but enjoying the time together, building our journey every day.“My dreams have not changed too much. It’s much better when you show good performances and win the games, it makes everything easier, but at the same time, keep believing. Before we were talking, it was one game, three points. Now it is two games, six points. And we need to go for the next one.”It is easy, of course, to get carried away by two results. Basic soccer common sense will tell you the tournament winner will likely come from a small party of elite teams that the U.S. isn’t invited to. But try telling that to the masses in Seattle, or the millions of casual fans who are finding that a home World Cup is a whole lot of fun.“Yes,” iconic former Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic said after the game on Fox, when asked if the U.S. can win the World Cup.U.S. players celebrating victory over Australia. (Sarah Stier / FIFA via Getty Images)Think about that sentence for just a second. Then shake your head and think about it again.The U.S. feels on the verge of something special because they have taken care of two opponents that they were supposed to beat, first easily dispatching Paraguay and then controlling an Australian team that put up a physical fight, but not much of a soccer one.It’s just two wins, sure. Yet it puts the U.S. is three points clear in the group, and that’s nothing to scoff at. Winning it would mean staying on the West Coast and potentially returning to the seismic home field advantage in Seattle for a round-of-16 game.