MATCH THREAD - United States Vs Ghana - Group G - 6PM Eastern, 11PM UK - Monday June 16th

[SerenityNigh]

We English are on the whole a cynical, self-defeating people. And we've all seen the England threads - the city of Liverpool is particularly unpatriotic when it comes to our country of birth. The dunkin' donuts, high-fiving, flag-waving, fist-pumping Yankomania never fails to amuse.

But frequently it also beguiles. It is a poorly-kept secret that we are all taking collective delight from basking in your unbridled and truly pure joy. I think we all on GOT have some USNMT in us now, whether we like it or not.

So I say...
USA! USA! USA!

I think we all hope that you love it and hate it at the same time. Don't worry, the fervor will subside by August, when we're all back to serious matters.

 

[Royal Blue Jersey]

I think we all hope that you love it and hate it at the same time. Don't worry, the fervor will subside by August, when we're all back to serious matters.

It's like an alien concept Seren. We don't quite know how to respond to it. Self-flagellation is quite carthatic for us; getting together in a group and lambasting ourselves is not only something we do quite well, it's something we probably enjoy. Get the first laugh in yourself and nobody else's really matter. The dark days of the 90s supporting a team on the doorstep of Anfield made this a survival necessity.

It's just not the American way though. I think people on here are coming to accept that now, and enjoy your approach for what it is: brilliant in its way, and uniquely yours. And what the WC is all about: enjoying, for one small moment, all national differences.

 

[SerenityNigh]

It's just not the American way though.

This is exactly right, for better and worse. We are who we are, and we'll support the USMNT guns blazing.

*to be fair, it works best if you ignore reason, and reasonable people like RB

 

[Hellerad]

Real fans of the USA (and footy in the US in general) have to be careful to not fall into the hipster trap aka "I liked this before you and therefore you aren't a real fan." As was pretty widely stated last night on twitter, we need to embrace the new fan and hope that they stick around this time because they'll get less cringeworthy and the sport will grow because of it.

I've watched footy religiously since the 1990 world cup when I sat on my dads knee. I still have VHS recordings of that tournament. I was raised in a small southern US town and fans of soccer are a rarity. Hell, Sunday morning, our local cable provider didn't even televise the early fixture on ABC because local access church services were on instead. I had to watch it in Spanish like the good old days.

We've come a long way, but armchair fans won't ever become more than that if they are shunned.

 

[SerenityNigh]

Real fans of the USA (and footy in the US in general) have to be careful to not fall into the hipster trap aka "I liked this before you and therefore you aren't a real fan." As was pretty widely stated last night on twitter, we need to embrace the new fan and hope that they stick around this time because they'll get less cringeworthy and the sport will grow because of it.

I've watched footy religiously since the 1990 world cup when I sat on my dads knee. I still have VHS recordings of that tournament. I was raised in a small southern US town and fans of soccer are a rarity. Hell, Sunday morning, our local cable provider didn't even televise the early fixture on ABC because local access church services were on instead. I had to watch it in Spanish like the good old days.

We've come a long way, but armchair fans won't ever become more than that if they are shunned.

Well said; very few Americans had to chance to grow up watching the game. Let's hope there is more opportunity for this moving forward.

 

[RaleighBlue]

Real fans of the USA (and footy in the US in general) have to be careful to not fall into the hipster trap aka "I liked this before you and therefore you aren't a real fan." As was pretty widely stated last night on twitter, we need to embrace the new fan and hope that they stick around this time because they'll get less cringeworthy and the sport will grow because of it.

I've watched footy religiously since the 1990 world cup when I sat on my dads knee. I still have VHS recordings of that tournament. I was raised in a small southern US town and fans of soccer are a rarity. Hell, Sunday morning, our local cable provider didn't even televise the early fixture on ABC because local access church services were on instead. I had to watch it in Spanish like the good old days.

We've come a long way, but armchair fans won't ever become more than that if they are shunned.

I am pleased when I see kids wearing footy kits, even if they're Real Madrid kits. I have trouble reconciling people that mock and attack the sport at every turn and then wanting to join in when the USA wins a group match however. I don't feel like that's being a hipster.

Many people in the US are not ignorant to soccer, they are downright hostile towards it. These people then want to jump into the excitement during the world cup. It's them that I have a problem with. Not people that are just paying attention because it's the US and they're supporting their country. I don't have a huge problem with the Olympics fans either.

My issue rests with people that are actively hostile to the sport jumping on the bandwagon. That's not hipster, that's just having a normal reaction to bellish behavior.

Also, many US fans that don't know the sport like Alexei Lalas. These people are clearly wrongheaded and it would be for the best for everyone if they were put down.

 

[ijjysmith]

We English are on the whole a cynical, self-defeating people. And we've all seen the England threads - the city of Liverpool is particularly unpatriotic when it comes to our country of birth. The dunkin' donuts, high-fiving, flag-waving, fist-pumping Yankomania never fails to amuse.

But frequently it also beguiles. It is a poorly-kept secret that we are all taking collective delight from basking in your unbridled and truly pure joy. I think we all on GOT have some USNMT in us now, whether we like it or not.

So I say...
USA! USA! USA!

It's like an alien concept Seren. We don't quite know how to respond to it. Self-flagellation is quite carthatic for us; getting together in a group and lambasting ourselves is not only something we do quite well, it's something we probably enjoy. Get the first laugh in yourself and nobody else's really matter. The dark days of the 90s supporting a team on the doorstep of Anfield made this a survival necessity.

It's just not the American way though. I think people on here are coming to accept that now, and enjoy your approach for what it is: brilliant in its way, and uniquely yours. And what the WC is all about: enjoying, for one small moment, all national differences.

Can you please stop taking for all of England and all of GOT mate?

I know you're just being nice. But it's a little cringe worthy.

But I'm English. I like to see Tim Howard play well and I like a decent football match.

That's it with USA.

As for Donovan, well I think Klinnsmann knows more about that whole situation.

 

[Royal Blue Jersey]

Can you please stop taking for all of England and all of GOT mate?

I know you're just being nice. But it's a little cringe worthy.

But I'm English. I like to see Tim Howard play well and I like a decent football match.

That's it with USA.

As for Donovan, well I think Klinnsmann knows more about that whole situation.

No, I'll talk for whoever I want.

I was talking (mainly) about scousers anyway. Which you aren't.

 

[ijjysmith]

No, I'll talk for whoever I want.

I was talking (mainly) about scousers anyway. Which you aren't.

I wasn't having a go mate.

But you were talking about people from England. (You didn't say scousers). And I'm one of them.

I'm just saying it came across to me that you were trying to lick the US lads arses. I'm sure you weren't. But it looked like it.

 

[Azzurri]

I wasn't having a go mate.

But you were talking about people from England. (You didn't day scousers). And I'm one of them.

I'm just saying it came across to me that you were trying to lick the US lads arses. I'm sure you weren't. But it looked like it.

 

[Royal Blue Jersey]

I wasn't having a go mate.

But you were talking about people from England. (You didn't day scousers). And I'm one of them.

I'm just saying it came across to me that you were trying to lick the US lads arses. I'm sure you weren't. But it looked like it.

You didn't consider properly what I was trying to say... I barely posted in any of the US WC threads. I've got far less interest than most. I'm just trying to explain the mixture of the clashes (USNMT; Hulk Hogan riding a Bald Eagle eating a Big Mac-style photos; the Altidore problem....) with the obvious support (match thread second only to England)

I hate England really, for several reasons, 1) being a scouser and 2) all the kopites being prime but not sole reasons, but even people outside of Liverpool are frequently pessimistic about our chances. Press sell a boatload of papers decrying everything the national team does, because it sells, because we love our failures (in a sick sort of way) as much as our successes.

I wasn't trying to generalise, speak for all people, lick arses or any of that. I was trying to express a cultural and sporting divide which I found amusing and which is frequently played out on the battlefields of GoT threads year-long but which is perhaps at it's most convivial now that the WC has started.

 

[banno]

It's like an alien concept Seren. We don't quite know how to respond to it. Self-flagellation is quite carthatic for us; getting together in a group and lambasting ourselves is not only something we do quite well, it's something we probably enjoy. Get the first laugh in yourself and nobody else's really matter. The dark days of the 90s supporting a team on the doorstep of Anfield made this a survival necessity.

It's just not the American way though. I think people on here are coming to accept that now, and enjoy your approach for what it is: brilliant in its way, and uniquely yours. And what the WC is all about: enjoying, for one small moment, all national differences.

What did you have for dinner..........a f***in Dictionary.

 

[obc]

I don't know if all the bandwagoners when the Cup come around are dense and think we are awesome.

I think it's more or less the fact we know we AREN'T a world power. America loves the underdog. And in Football, compared to Hockey/Hoops/Baseball - the other team sports that are followed here and played internationally, we are the underdog.

I see more people fired up to root on our scrappy bunch of turbo gash footballers than our "Dream Teams" playing hoops in the Olympics. Hell, some of the teams that followed the original Bird/Jordan/Magic/etc Dream Team probably got as much bashing as you lids do to Ingerland. More, even, considering our population. (And our most venerated team? The 1980 US Men's hockey team - a bunch of college kids - that beat the mighty Soviets and then won the gold. Every February you can tune in to sports talk radio and know you'll hear Mike Eruzione making the anniversary rounds.)

And for those of us that follow the sport, we're not only an underdog, we realize we are hated by many both at home and abroad. So no wonder we get fired up. Every success, however ugly, is like a solitary finger salute for the haters at home and a flipped bird to the piss takers abroad.

 

[mezzrow]

Real fans of the USA (and footy in the US in general) have to be careful to not fall into the hipster trap aka "I liked this before you and therefore you aren't a real fan." As was pretty widely stated last night on twitter, we need to embrace the new fan and hope that they stick around this time because they'll get less cringeworthy and the sport will grow because of it.

I've watched footy religiously since the 1990 world cup when I sat on my dads knee. I still have VHS recordings of that tournament. I was raised in a small southern US town and fans of soccer are a rarity. Hell, Sunday morning, our local cable provider didn't even televise the early fixture on ABC because local access church services were on instead. I had to watch it in Spanish like the good old days.

We've come a long way, but armchair fans won't ever become more than that if they are shunned.

I'd like this twice, if I could.

 

[ijjysmith]

I don't know if all the bandwagoners when the Cup come around are dense and think we are awesome.

I think it's more or less the fact we know we AREN'T a world power. America loves the underdog. And in Football, compared to Hockey/Hoops/Baseball - the other team sports that are followed here and played internationally, we are the underdog.

I see more people fired up to root on our scrappy bunch of turbo gash footballers than our "Dream Teams" playing hoops in the Olympics. Hell, some of the teams that followed the original Bird/Jordan/Magic/etc Dream Team probably got as much bashing as you lids do to Ingerland. More, even, considering our population. (And our most venerated team? The 1980 US Men's hockey team - a bunch of college kids - that beat the mighty Soviets and then won the gold. Every February you can tune in to sports talk radio and know you'll hear Mike Eruzione making the anniversary rounds.)

And for those of us that follow the sport, we're not only an underdog, we realize we are hated by many both at home and abroad. So no wonder we get fired up. Every success, however ugly, is like a solitary finger salute for the haters at home and a flipped bird to the piss takers abroad.

A friend of mine used to see this American girl, she was insanely fit, anyway, her brother had been all over his Facebook going on about how well you played last night.

So not all you guys are as clued up as you mate.

It may or may not shock you that this guy is a Man City 'fan'.