It goes without saying that soccer is not an American
sport. Despite all of the hype
about the attendance in youth soccer leagues spiking, this nation as a whole
still lacks the love for soccer.
I am just as guilty of this. I am a World Cup bandwagon fan at best. I don’t follow soccer year round and I
was just online looking at the U.S. team’s roster since I don’t know much about
the players.
However, the love of soccer around here reached a critical mass at
the Thirsty Lion Pub and Grill at Tempe Marketplace for the U.S.-Portugal game. I joined a few friends at a table where
I had to stand most of the time because the place was packed to the gills. I have been following most of the games
on ABC and Univision (I don’t have ESPN/cable) but I knew I had to be out somewhere
where I could hear the play by play while cheering for Team USA.
Let me just say that I am so happy that I made the decision
to watch it at a bar. The energy
at Thirsty Lion was palpable. The
chanting: USA-USA-USA and the cheering when we scored was louder than a lot of
crowds at other professional sporting events. I watched a woman at the table next to us hold up her baby
over her head when we scored.
People were decked out in red-white-and-blue attire, Uncle
Sam hats, and American flag bandannas and cowboy boots. I even saw a young man wearing a Mia
Hamm jersey. Hamm was an
award-winning, professional soccer player who was on two U.S. Olympic gold medal-winning
teams more than a decade ago. No
one at my table even knew about her. And I was talking to two female New
York natives. Sigh.
Needless to say, we were all highly disappointed with the
2-2 draw. Some of the men in the
crowd were visibly depressed and upset.
We’ll see what happens on Thursday. Go USA!
