World Cup soccer: So good, so good, so good!

Watching the World Cup soccer so far, not just our outstanding USA team, but all the games and all the teams, the refrain from Neil Diamond’s famous song “Sweet Caroline” comes to mind.

Everybody now… ready to sing along? “So good, so good, so good!”

It has truly been “so good!” so far, and to go with the music theme and borrow from another song, how about The Carpenters, who famously sang “We’ve Only Just Begun”?

That is right, we have only just begun. Because now we enter the “knockout” stage, where the pressure gets ratcheted up. These games are also called the elimination stage.Lose and you are out, win and you advance, and the tension and intensity of the games crank up a few more notches. 

Sports bars throughout the Chicago area will be packed with cheering fans. Many of these sports bars are used to hosting big sporting events. NFL football games, NBA basketball, hockey, baseball, and even sports like NASCAR, golf, and tennis can all bring in big crowds ready to cheer on their favorite teams or favorite players.

Usually, it is done in conjunction with the consumption of a few beverages and some hot wings, maybe nachos, or pretzels and chips—or any other similar foods not necessarily recommended by the American Medical Association.

But, after observing the first two weeks of World Cup play, I can convincingly say that soccer fans take it to another level—a much higher level, especially when it comes to passion, intensity of viewing and allegiance for their countries.

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They display their love for their favored team simply by the way they dress. Fans show up for the big game decked out in full regalia, proudly wearing their squad’s anointed jersey.

You will see the famed canary yellow jersey of the Brazil fans; the sky blue of Argentina fans; the darker blue worn by French fans, whose team is known as Les Bleus; the white with back detail of the Germany fans; Spain’s impactful red-and-navy jersey; the bright hard-to-miss orange of the Netherlands; and of course, the familiar shiny green worn bythe avid and enthusiastic Mexico fans—just to name a few.

The United States soccer fans are getting there. We are developing a pretty rabid fan base in our country, and of course, if our United States team has continued success on the international level, that will increase for sure. But the operative word above is “developing.” We are not there yet.

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We simply cannot match the intensity and passion of the fans from other countries. For them, it is almost part of their DNA, passed on through generations. They have grown up with the sport, probably watching with their parents from near infancy. The game is almost born into them. They live it, they breathe it, they even feel it.

I have observed this phenomenon in various trips to different local sports bars over recent weeks (strictly, of course, for professional journalistic purposes).

These fans may be visiting family here in the Chicago area this summer, or they are American citizens born here, but with family and heritage from other countries. Whatever the case, they take their soccer allegiances and their viewing seriously.

These rabid soccer fans are not at the sports bar to socialize, party and have a good time. No. Especially for the World Cup. This is all business. They watch intently, cheering on their favored country while quite literally on the edge of their seat watching the fortunes of their native country.

Interesting to note is that while the games are hotly contested, and increasingly physical (whoever said soccer is a non-contact sport couldn’t have been more wrong), there is a deep respect between the players, coaches and fans.

Often after a particularly hard collision, or when a player lay injured, someone from the other side would come over to make sure they were OK. To be fair, not all the time, but often enough for the spectator to see that these athletes, while fighting hard for their countries, still understand the importance of sportsmanship, and respect for their fellow competitors.

I think it’s safe to say we could use a little more of that in today’s increasingly volatile world. Who knows? Maybe our world leaders will take a page from the World Cup competition with its “compete hard but respect the opponent” playbook.  It certainly couldn’t hurt.

Some final thoughts:

While I was referring to the game as soccer in the words above, it is fully recognized that the game just about everywhere else on this planet is called Futbol (football). Which makes sense since the game is played with the feet.

Finally, while observing various fans rooting for other counties during my sports bar “business trips,” I can safely say the fans who imbibe the most… who can put away the most pints of beer during the course of a game… are the Scotland fans.

Put in other terms, let’s just say many of our local sports bars were very happy when the Scotland fans showed up to cheer on their team. 

In the meantime, enjoy the games, take in all the passion that is there to be felt, and—dare we say—can the USA go all the way?