Today is the day for soccer/futbol/football or whatever you like to call it. Yes, today is the day the United States Men's National Team takes on Germany for a chance to advance to the knockout round in the World Cup, and the whole country is all a buzz!

I can't even think about renovation and home DIY today, or last night for that matter. This game is too big!

If you're note following along or don't know what I'm talking about, this post will likely be lost on you, but let me at least try. The United States was given little chance of advancing out of their group into the knockout round, but after surprising play (to some), and poor play by others, the US has a chance to silence the naysayers with a win or draw today. However, the Germans are an international powerhouse team not to be messed with. And it all comes to a head at high noon (ET), how fitting?

But who am I to let a moment for a DIY pass me by? Really, any excuse for a little custom work will do, so I'm channeling my love for customization and desire to be "historically accurate" into altering my US Soccer Jersey to be a bit more accurate.

A while ago I picked up a Clint Dempsey jersey so that I could sit on the couch and cheer on the US men as they continued their drive for Basil 2014.

I chose the "uglier" red white and blue of the two jerseys (rather than the white with collar) to show my national pride. No, to those of you who might be asking the question everyone seems to be asking, this is not a French jersey, though it does look remarkably like their flag.

In this case I went against my norm, and rather than purchasing an authentic cut jersey, I opted for the replica style. Why? Because the authentic cut for the bodies of ripped twenty something soccer stars, whereas I possess the body of a thin thirty something computer programmer.

Personally, my core strength leaves something to be desired which is in direct correlation to my lacking six pack abdominal definition. But it's okay, what my body lacks in rock hard abs, I make up for with some soft squishy love handles. Which brings me back to my earlier point about wearing said team's jersey while cheering them on from our couch. Hey, I'm working on it with my Restoration Hardware Home Gym solution!

I'd likely end up looking a bit more like Will Ferrell than that of Clint Dempsey.

However, when the World Cup started a few weeks ago I noticed the newly added patches to either sleeve of the team's jerseys. Whether it was during the opening introductions, or while Jones was celebrating his spectacular winning goal with enthusiastic fist pumping, the patches, they taunted me.

Photo Credit: Julio Cortez/AP Photo

So I did what any self respecting uniform junkie would do. I took to eBay and ordered a set of patches for my own jersey.

Now, call me a skeptic, but any time I want to purchase something from eBay that ships from China, and I need it in a short period of time, I'm usually rather certain it won't actually arrive by the time I need it. But in this case, I placed the order last Thursday, got the ship notification the next day (an "e-packet" from China), and received my patches in a little envelope on Tuesday. Color me happy.

Last night, in anticipation of today's game, I decided to apply the iron on patches to my jersey in the hope that my look would bring the #USMNT the luck they need against the Germans. Hey, it could happen!

If you have a jersey, and you really want to make it as authentic as you can, this little "how to" is for you.

Grab your iron and warm it up to about medium heat. For our iron that was the cotton blends setting, or 5.

While it warms, grab your jersey and convince the sleeve to lay flat on the end of the ironing board. It's important that it is flat but not stretched when you apply the patches.

I started with the right sleeve, where the Basil 2014 patch would be applied. On my red, white, and blue not French jersey it was easy to get a good placement since the patch sits over the transition from blue to white, centered on both the sleeve color change and the mid point from the shoulder.

Once the patch was right where I wanted it, I gently laid a thin cotton t-shirt over the patch and applied even pressure with the iron for 15-20 seconds.

BOOM, FIFA World Cup Brasil 2014 patch applied!

Okay, on to the left sleeve and the "Football For Hope" patch. You know the drill, same process as before.

BOOM, other patch done! I now no longer feel like I'm not part of the team. I will now proudly resume my enthusiastic cheering while proudly displaying my patriotism.

In the unlikely event you're looking for a set of patches to finish out your jersey, I bought mine from the eBay seller "soccerpatch4u".

So, back to what I said earlier. Today is the day! What are your plans for the game?