It's been hard to avoid.

Americans spent the week talking about Belgium. Television coverage, social media, conversations at work, and endless debate among sports fans. Everywhere you turn, there seems to be another reminder that a small European country recently arrived on American soil and managed to leave with a victory.

You have to respect it.

The Belgians showed up prepared. They were confident without being arrogant, disciplined without being robotic, and seemingly unfazed by competing in front of an American crowd. While many of us expected the home team to defend its turf, the visitors had other ideas.

The more I thought about it, the more I just had to tell you.

After all, Belgium isn’t exactly the first country most Americans think of when discussing athletic dominance. Yet here they were once again, proving that talent can come from anywhere and that a determined group of young, foreign athletes can capture the attention of an entire nation.

The Americans fought hard. The crowd was loud. Expectations were high.

But the Belgians kept coming.

And when it was over, they went home with the win.

However, I’m not talking about the soccer match that took place in Seattle Stadium on July 6. I am talking about what happened in the tiny town of Southwick, Massachusetts on July 11.

While much of America was focused elsewhere, two Belgian teenagers quietly arrived in New England and proceeded to remind us that sport has always been an international language.

Lucas Coenen and his twin brother Sacha weren’t on vacation. They weren’t sightseeing. They were taking advantage of a one week break in the MXGP World Championship schedule, by making the second of three planned trips to America this summer in the AMA Pro Motocross Championship. These young men race nearly every weekend in Europe against the best riders in the world. During three precious gaps in that schedule, and at great risk to the series points lead they currently hold in their respective MXGP and MX2 classes, they decided to fly across the Atlantic and test themselves against the riders they grew up admiring.

The Americans.

Their combined scorecard from their previous visit was already difficult to comprehend: 14-2-2-1. At this level, those kinds of numbers are almost absurd.

Southwick somehow raised the bar.

Lucas crashed at the start of his moto. Now, dead last in a field of 40 riders, he began slicing through the pack. Within a handful of laps he had climbed into fourth place and looked capable of much more. Then the brutal Southwick sand, heat, and track conditions bit back. Another crash ended his charge, and after leaving everything he had on the track, he elected not to line up for the second moto. The team manager simply wouldn't allow it.

Meanwhile, Sacha was busy carving legend.

Sacha went wire-to-wire in his first moto, leaving behind not only the Americans but every other rider brave enough to line up against him. The second place rider crossed the finish line thirty seconds behind him. In the second moto, he built a lead of roughly fourteen seconds before suffering a spectacular crash jumping down one of Southwick’s infamous downhills.

Most riders would have called it a day. Sacha got back up and won anyway to finish the day with a perfect 1-1.

Only later did we learn that he had broken his collarbone in the crash.

That’s motocross. Soccer and Hockey players have no idea.

And that’s why American fans have fallen head over heels for these kids.

What’s interesting is that the Coenen brothers didn’t arrive with an attitude. They clearly respect the American riders. In interviews, they speak about American motocross with admiration. To them, racing in America isn’t a side trip. It’s a dream. A challenge. A chance to measure themselves against riders they watched as children.

The feeling now seems mutual.

American fans don’t resent them. We love them.

In fact, if they keep this up, somebody is going to start engraving Hall of Fame plaques before they’re old enough to buy a drink.

But perhaps the most interesting part of this story is that none of it is really new..

More than fifty years ago, another Belgian crossed the Atlantic and changed motocross forever.

Roger DeCoster–known in the motocross world as simply "The Man"–, didn’t just win races, he won five world championships and our hearts. He changed expectations. His preparation, conditioning, professionalism, and racecraft forced everyone around him to improve. American riders accepted the challenge, raised their own level, and eventually became the dominant force in the sport for the next half-century.

In a way, what happened at Southwick wasn’t the beginning of a story.

It was the latest chapter in one that Belgium started writing 50 years ago.

The Coenen brothers didn’t introduce America to Belgian motocross.

They simply reminded us.