The United States is a large and strange country.  The country’s relationship with soccer is convoluted.  There are those on the conservative wing of the American polity who view soccer as the first step towards the Euro-trash invasion of America.  There are many baseball egg-heads from blue state urban areas who discount the possibility of the U.S. ever becoming a “soccer nation.”  There are the advertising folks who trot out in World Cup years the same trite, condescending ads about soccer and its relationship with more “American” sports.  There are the mainstream sports talking heads who ignore U.S. soccer for four years until the World Cup, and then insult it and belittle it as much as they can.  The truth is none of these people know what they are talking about.

For anyone watching the pre-game show for Friday’s U.S.-Australia match, the sight of thousands of rabid American fans–clad in red, white, and blue–chanting and singing should be sufficient confirmation that the U.S. is a “soccer nation,” whatever that means.

There are some leftist Americans who are not cheering for American because of the country’s current president.  Imagine cheering against a particular soccer team because one objects to that country’s current government.  The Zionist’s Guide to the World Cup (ZGWC) cannot imagine any comparison between its predilections and the choices of the aforementioned leftist........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)