NETANYA, Israel — Two-and-a-half years of preparation boils down to the next 10 days.

The U.S. men’s national team will open the 2018 Federation of International Lacrosse World Championship tonight against the Iroquois Nationals on ESPN2 at 1:30 p.m. Eastern (8:30 p.m. local) time at Netanya Stadium in Israel.

“It’s been a process that began in January of ’16, but it’s flown by,” coach John Danowski says in the latest Team USA vlog published on the US Lacrosse YouTube channel. “Every time we’ve been together with these guys, it’s been absolutely extraordinary. Every experience has been better than the last. Now you see a turn in their focus. It’s getting serious now. It’s becoming real.”

The vlog, produced by US Lacrosse’s Mikey Wallin, shows Team USA as it arrives in Israel, tours Jerusalem and practices on the eve of the world championship. Wallin also captured the essence of this event as U.S. attackman Marcus Holman, then long-stick midfielder Kyle Hartzell and midfielder Paul Rabil, taught the game to two young boys speaking broken English in the lobby of the team’s kibbutz outside Herzliya.

Brian Logue wrote about the experience on the Team USA website.

Iroquois Arrive

The Iroquois Nationals experienced delays traveling out of Toronto on their Haudenosaunee-issued passports, but the team arrived in Tel Aviv on Thursday and will play in the FIL Blue Division opener against the U.S.

Iroquois Nationals are on plane departing for Isreal for the 2018 world championships!! Whoo hoo!! pic.twitter.com/Sj8kPe5GeA

— IROQUOIS LACROSSE (@IrqLax) July 11, 2018

We made it

— Iroquois Nationals 2018 (@iroqnats2018) July 12, 2018

The Iroquois consider their passports to be a symbol of their sovereignty and withdrew from the 2010 FIL World Championship in Manchester, England, because the U.K. officials would not accept the documents.