A few minutes after the United States lost 2-1 to Belgium and was eliminated from the 2014 World Cup, I posted “My hands and lungs hurt. That was a great effort by the US team. Also, its fans” on Facebook and Twitter. Now, after a nice consolation dinner and a night’s sleep, I feel like I should revise that statement: “My hands still hurt but now it’s more my throat than my lungs.” And expand upon it too. Here are some of my thoughts:
Sports are better for die-hard fans when casual fans get involved. This may seem like an obvious statement coming from a die-hard sports fan who writes a blog about sports for casual fans but it’s true nonetheless. It’s way more fun to follow the World Cup and root for the U.S. team now that so many casual fans are interested and invested in the games. Soccer has been the sport with the least casual fans for a long time, partially because it is so low scoring, possibly because the best leagues in the world are in Europe, so following them involves watching early on weekend mornings and saying things like “Tottenham Hotspur” and “Crystal Palace.” Yes, nodding at other people wearing U.S. jerseys on their way to work (the die-hard fans) brought a smile to my face, but even better was talking to the many casual fans who were really enjoying the World Cup and soccer for the first time. I hope that this experience was a two-way street; that the casual fans out there who got into the World Cup found that they enjoyed it and got a lot out of it.
It is way more fun to root for the home team. Due to the vagaries of life, I only live near one of the teams that I root for, so rooting for the home-team is a relatively rare occurrence for me. It’s great! I’ve got to do more of it. My plan for years has been to become a fan of the football and baseball teams in the next city I live in, since I don’t have favorite teams in those sports, but maybe I should think more radically about changing allegiances. It’s much more fun to root for the team that everyone around you is rooting for and that the media you consume is universally supporting.
All of this is magnified when the home team is one that you can be proud of. The U.S. team may have ended the World Cup with what looks like a mediocre showing, one win, one tie, and two losses, but the way they played was inspiring. Sure, there are a few moments from the Belgium game that will stick in my memory and haunt me when I least expect it. Chris Wondolowski’s poorly hit shot in the closing minutes of regular time that could have, should have won the game is tough to swallow. The fact that we executed such a cool tic-tac-toe free kick in last ten minutes of the game which left Clint Dempsey alone with the ball in front of the Belgian net but he could not beat the keeper also lodges in my throat a little. But the positives overwhelm those sore spots. Tim Howard. Tim Howard! Tim Howard was a rock in goal, making what I believe was a record number of saves to keep the U.S. in the game. Without Tim Howard being heroic, we’re not even talking about the close calls we missed at the end of the game because we would have been down 4-0. Michael Bradley, much maligned as he was by the media during this World Cup for sub par play, was tireless during the game against Belgium. He missed some easy passes, sure, but in the last overtime, when everyone else was looking a little ragged, Bradley (who runs more than anyone during a game,) was the one trailing back to the defense, picking the ball up, and racing forward with it, over and over and over again. The two youngest players on the team, DeAndre Yedlin and Julian Green, both impressed and should give us great hope for the future.
The United States team was great and now they are gone. We can still enjoy the World Cup. We are, after all, a nation of immigrants and hyphens, and it’s okay to root for another team. My neighborhood pulls strongly (and loudly!) for Colombia. My household is part Dutch, so also pull for the orange jerseys of The Netherlands. I have friends at work who root for Argentina, France, Germany, and more. I see posts from old classmates and soccer teammates of mine who root for Costa Rica and Brazil. I’m sure I even know a few people who favor the Belgian team. It’s all good, even, I suppose after a few mean glares, for the Belgian supporters. The World Cup is an international celebration as well as a tournament. It’s a chance for nations to represent themselves to the international community as well as try to win. This U.S. team and our support of it was a fine representation of who I think we want to be as a country, so let’s lick our wounds, hold our heads high, and enjoy the rest of the World Cup.
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To celebrate the World Cup in Brazil, Dear Sports Fan is publishing a set of posts explaining elements of soccer. We hope you enjoy posts like Why do People Like Soccer? How Does the World Cup Work? Why Do Soccer Players Dive so Much? What is a Penalty Kick in Soccer? What are Red and Yellow Cards in Soccer? and Why do World Cup Soccer Players Blame the Ball? The 2014 World Cup in Brazil begins on June 12 and ends on July 13.
Well-said, and thanks for saying it, Ezra!