It’s Soccer…uh, Football Time!
By: Tom Deignan | Published Thursday, June 17, 2010, 6:55 PM | Updated Friday, September 9, 2011, 9:42 PM
This is a plea to my fellow Irish Americans. It’s time to start giving a damn about football.
And I don’t mean the Giants or the Jets. I mean soccer.
As the rest of the globe knows -- as opposed to most Americans -- the
2010 World Cup in
South Africa is about to get underway. This Saturday at 1:30, the
U.S. -- led by two stars with distinctly
Hibernian names -- takes on England.
Does a true green-blooded Irish American really need another reason to get hyped up for this game? (I mean match.)
Okay, so even if you have no love for the Brits, you might still need to be persuaded to tear yourself away from the other sporting events on tap for this weekend.
After all, the
Yankees and
Mets and every other
Major League Baseball team will be playing this Saturday. Hockey’s Stanley Cup title will finally be decided by the weekend, and the Lakers and
Celtics will be squaring off as the
NBA’s basketball championship series continues.
So, for those of you still baffled as to why soccer (I mean football) never quite takes hold in America, there’s reason number one -- an embarrassment of athletic riches.
There are so many sports -- not to mention other entertainment options -- available to even the casual fan that it seems like you’d have to invent a third day of the weekend to take them all in.
But it seems to me Irish Americans have a particular interest in rooting hard for the Americans when they take the field (I mean the pitch), and not just because the U.S. is taking on the Brits.
First and foremost, let’s get this ugly bit on news out of the way --
Ireland is not playing in the World Cup this time around. Which is an interesting bit of news for Irish Americans to keep in their back pockets on the off chance that some Irish-born friends or family start running America down.
Second, two of America’s brightest stars are the Irish Americans Landon Donovan and
Clint Dempsey. Yes, yes,
England has superstar Wayne Rooney, whose parents are Irish. But when you take all things into account, I think we know which country has done more for the Irish over the centuries.
Third, if the Irish truly do love an underdog, even a lost cause, soccer (I mean football) remains one of the few places the Americans can be seen as underdogs.
Military dominance. Financial dominance. Entertainment dominance. America has it all.
But soccer remains one of the few endeavors during which the Americans can view themselves as struggling upstarts among giants.
That’s exactly why last year’s
FIFA Confederations Tournament in South Africa was so thrilling. (That sentence alone might seem downright bizarre to an average American, but I’ll move on.)
The Americans entered that prestigious tournament as an afterthought, with traditional powerhouses such as
Brazil or
Spain expected to dominate.
Fittingly, the Americans started off slow, losing two matches to
Italy and Brazil by a combined score of 6- 1.
But from this modest start came what was nearly the defining moment in American soccer history. Dempsey and Donovan led the Americans in a dominating win over
Egypt, which put them into the next round. Then came a stunning win over Spain.
Suddenly, the Americans were in the finals, facing Brazil. What happened? They were only up 2-0 over Brazil -- as in Pele’s Brazil -- at halftime.
Can you imagine what would have happened if the U.S. topped Brazil? Well, that’s all you can do is imagine it.
The Brazilians seemed to field 25 men for the second half, relentlessly attacking and, by the 85th minute, scored the go-ahead goal.
But that was last year. This is the World Cup. In a way, it is understandable for the rest of the world to root against America.
After all, the thinking goes, you Americans dominate everything else. Leave the football glory for the rest of the world.
And yet, the Irish have played such a big role putting America in such a position of dominance.
So they have a right, perhaps even a responsibility, to revel in a little football glory on the pitch.
Besides, who else are you gonna root for? The Brits?
(Contact at tomdeignan@earthlink.net or
facebook.com/tomdeignan)
5 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.Sparklet | Jun 11, 2010, 10:27 AM EDT
Most Irish I know are supporting England, because the majority of the Irish support English soccer teams, and their favourite players are likely to be playing. "The Brits" (offensive) and the Irish in Ireland actually get on very well, in the main.
carrickcourt | Jun 11, 2010, 09:07 AM EDT
Love "real football". So much more interesting then North American football. Also love football (AKA soccer) because of the constant action and the lack of commercial breaks. So what if there are few goals. The action is so very exciting. I have a distant cousin Matt Holland who once played for Ireland's national football team. GO USA! Beat England!
Conjoly | Jun 11, 2010, 01:07 AM EDT
C'mon Spain! Want to see them winning it this year!
TheYank | Jun 10, 2010, 12:32 PM EDT
I think the US vs England game is at 2:30, not 1:30.
crny925 | Jun 09, 2010, 11:38 AM EDT
HAVE YOU BEEN TO AMERICA AND INTERVIEWED 'MOST AMERICANS'... NEWSFLASH TO YOU, MR. DEIGNAN; THE US IS WELL AWARE OF THE WORLD CUP IN SOUTH AFRICA... GAME/MATCH... SAME DIFFERENCE... GO AND ROOT FOR THE BRITS AS IT'S OBVIOUS YOU'RE ANTI-AMERICAN AND YOU HAVE NO PLACE IN THE MEDIA; YOU'LL SURELY NEVER GET A JOB IN A MAJOR NEWS OUTFIT!!!