SlavikSvensk
23-06-2010, 09:53 PM
you can feel it in the air here.
Long after the game had ended and the jubilant players had left the field, the U.S. fans partied on in the stands, singing, dancing and waving their American flags. Back home, folks who couldn't pick Landon Donovan out of a lineup only a few weeks ago celebrated his goal with die-hard gusto.
For decades now, soccer enthusiasts have insisted it was only a matter of time before the game grabbed hold of the United States as it has the rest of the world.
That time is here.
U.S. sports fans love winners, and the Americans are moving on to the second round of the World Cup as the top team in their group -- ahead, even, of mighty England. But it's the way this team is playing, every match an adrenaline-fueled, heart-in-your-throat, can't-look-away-for-a-second dance on the edge that is captivating the country. And changing the game in the United States.
"Anybody that watched today's game and can't get excited about it, we're not going to win them over," U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati said. "But I think we won a lot of people over today."
...
One of America's biggest complaints about soccer is that it lacks action, that it doesn't have the high-scoring drama of our other sports. You can play 90 minutes and see only a goal or two. Or, worse, a 0-0 tie.
The United States scored a grand total of one goal in the victory over Algeria on Wednesday, yet it can be hard to find any game, in any sport, more exciting or nerve-racking.
U.S. wins game, group -- and a whole lot of new fans - ESPN Soccernet (http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/5319743/ce/us/us-wins-game-group-whole-lot-new-fans?cc=5901&ver=us)
Long after the game had ended and the jubilant players had left the field, the U.S. fans partied on in the stands, singing, dancing and waving their American flags. Back home, folks who couldn't pick Landon Donovan out of a lineup only a few weeks ago celebrated his goal with die-hard gusto.
For decades now, soccer enthusiasts have insisted it was only a matter of time before the game grabbed hold of the United States as it has the rest of the world.
That time is here.
U.S. sports fans love winners, and the Americans are moving on to the second round of the World Cup as the top team in their group -- ahead, even, of mighty England. But it's the way this team is playing, every match an adrenaline-fueled, heart-in-your-throat, can't-look-away-for-a-second dance on the edge that is captivating the country. And changing the game in the United States.
"Anybody that watched today's game and can't get excited about it, we're not going to win them over," U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati said. "But I think we won a lot of people over today."
...
One of America's biggest complaints about soccer is that it lacks action, that it doesn't have the high-scoring drama of our other sports. You can play 90 minutes and see only a goal or two. Or, worse, a 0-0 tie.
The United States scored a grand total of one goal in the victory over Algeria on Wednesday, yet it can be hard to find any game, in any sport, more exciting or nerve-racking.
U.S. wins game, group -- and a whole lot of new fans - ESPN Soccernet (http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/5319743/ce/us/us-wins-game-group-whole-lot-new-fans?cc=5901&ver=us)