Why is it that many Americans don’t care about the World Cup?
I’d wager the first issue is soccer is one sport we aren’t internationally dominant in. Name your sport – basketball, football, baseball – America is #1! – so on and so forth. Although the USA Soccer team is respectable, hell, borderline ‘quite good’, most bald eagle lovin’ ‘Muricans concern themselves not with the world’s game. In fact, just about everywhere else in the world refers to it as football, not soccer – what does that tell you?
I’d like to invite you to jump on the soccer bandwagon as I did during the last World Cup – there’s still plenty of room up here! You don’t think you could possibly be a fan of soccer? Well, let me ask you this – do you enjoy going to charming little pubs? Yes? Good. Do you enjoy shouting? Even better. Do you enjoy being in the company of friends and kindly strangers? Perfect, these are all the ingredients necessary!
American fans could certainly learn a thing or two from international lovers of the game. There might be a golden opportunity here should the World Cup be moved from Qatar in 2022 to its more likely destination in the United States. Say hello, visum usa-ESTA — it’s never too early for Swedish fans to explore plans to jump the pond.
There are so many things to love about the World Cup. Sporting fans can easily appreciate some of the top athletes in the world competing at the highest level. History buffs will appreciate the narrative associated with all participating countries. Political activists can have a field day discussing FIFA. Some people even watch the World Cup just for the eye candy – disclaimer here, although I have a man crush on Ronaldo, I consider my interests more aligned with the first pool.
Your country needs you more than ever. Your other country, be it Sweden, Germany, or whatever, they need you too. Get your face painted as the American flag, grab a pint and get ready to cheer – the beautiful game will be dominating television sets for about a solid month. Climb aboard the bandwagon now, it won’t roll around for another four years!
