US World Cup prowess boosts American passion for the beautiful game

NEW YORK – The barnstorming US performance in the World Cup has helped cement the appeal of football for millions of sports lovers in the country that is co-hosting the tournament along with Mexico and Canada.

Solid wins over Paraguay and Australia saw the United States finish top of Group D, with more goals for the men’s team than at any past World Cup.

“I need to remind everyone we won the group, sorry guys, we won,” said coach Mauricio Pochettino, after they slipped in their final group encounter to lose 3-2 to bottom side Turkey.

Outside the match at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, 35-year-old physical therapist Ian Bjerke wore overalls adorned with the Stars and Stripes.

“That just shows my commitment to this team,” he joked of his sartorial choice.

“I’m usually more into baseball, and I have to say, it’s been fun to watch. The game is exciting, it’s a lot more fast-paced.”

Bjerke, a relative newcomer to football fandom, said there were still improvements to be made for Americans to fully embrace the sport. “We could do some better singing, though. I feel like so many countries have better songs,” he said.

Nearby, business consultant Matt Movahhed described the US team as more exciting than past iterations.

“They play a more offensive style, and I think that makes me want to pay attention more – and it probably has the same effect on other Americans,” added the 40-year-old.

Off the pitch, feel-good viral moments have also increased engagement with the tournament.

Legions of Tartan Army fans from Scotland roaming around Boston and Miami in kilts, while adorning statues with orange traffic cones and drinking entire bars dry, won over many locals.

Thousands of Norwegian fans took over Citi Field stadium, the Flushing, New York home of the Mets baseball franchise, performing their noisy trademark Viking rowing for the locals, who included the team’s mascots Mr and Mrs Met.

In Kansas City, an army of Dutch fans flocked to downtown for an “Oranje Fanwalk”, creating a sea of orange captured on time lapse.

“The cultural aspects that make it more than a sporting event appeal to people everywhere,” said Amy Bass, a professor of sports studies at Manhattanville University.

“People are obsessing about the matches, sure, but they’re also following Freddy the German fan as he shares his experiences across the American South, eating at gas stations and discovering country music.”

US fan Dante Drishti, 25, who played football throughout school, said it was “great for Americans to immerse themselves in all those cultures and for visitors to immerse themselves in the American culture”.

“That’s what the World Cup is all about. It’s also an opportunity for Americans to discover soccer culture,” Drishti said as he made his way to the Ecuador-Germany game at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on June 25.

But fellow spectator Bryan Flaherty, 32, from Philadelphia suggested that the hype would not last, insisting “it’s kind of typical American behaviour to jump on the World Cup bandwagon”.

“In three weeks, 75 per cent will have forgotten all about it,” he said.

The commercial impact of the tournament may not be so quickly forgotten by big business.

The US’ opening match against Paraguay was watched by almost 25 million people according to NBC Sports, more than the average 19.6 million people who watched the first four games of basketball’s NBA Finals.

US cultural icons including Coca-Cola and McDonald’s meal deals have adopted FIFA World Cup branding that will be seen in towns and cities nationwide.

“The commercial aspects matter. FIFA ensures that it is a sporting event but also a commercial spectacle,” said Bass, the sports professor.

“Now we need to see how deeply embedded it is in American life.” AFP