Despite US loss, soccer fever may stay (Feature)

By Andy Goldberg Jun 27, 2010, 17:12 GMT

Port Elizabeth, South Africa - It was a team on the verge of greatness, or so its fans believed. Then again, what do Americans know about football - after all this is the country where one major newspaper, the New York Post, crowed on its front page after the national team's opener with England: 'US wins 1-1.'

But at least it was on the front page, a sign of the growing interest across the United States in the world's favourite sport. And boosted by unprecedented coverage by sports broadcaster ESPN, and by a hopefully successful run from the Yanks team the hope was that football, or soccer as it's called in the US, could finally reach critical mass as one of the country's big sports along with basketball, American football, hockey and baseball.

Hope had been high even before the first ball was kicked. Football is the most popular participatory sport in the land of the soccer mom and millions of boys and girls can be seen playing the game every weekend at playing fields up and down the country.

So as the team progressed soccer fever surged. Television ratings were up 68 per cent over the World Cup in 2006, and with a potentially smooth path to the semi-finals players and officials finally dared to dream that they would step up to the big time.

With the dramatic injury time winner against Algeria, that dream looked like turning into reality. Coach Bob Bradley predicted that his team could even make it to the final - an achievement that would translate into a bonanza of viewers across the country. 'We are a sporting nation, with an all-or-nothing mentality,' said Tim Howard, after the famous victory.

Even sports-mad President Barack Obama was caught up in the excitement, calling the US team to offer his congratulations and support. And when the big moment came against Ghana the country seemed to be behaving much like any other football-mad place on earth.

From Seattle to San Francisco and from Boston to Los Angeles, bars in cities, towns and villages across the huge nation tuned in to the big game, while barbecues and viewing parties galore attracted many other fans.

Then reality set in. America's underdogs were not good enough to beat a young and vibrant Ghana team. They may have come from behind in all their previous games, and did so against Ghana to take the tie into extra time. But after the African side went ahead again the US had no answer, losing 2-1 to end their World Cup adventure.

The US was out, but was the love affair with soccer over? 'No way,' said the Seattle TV station, KOMO5. 'Even with a US loss, most fans agree the winner will be the sport.'

'We certainly felt that we moved things along with our performance,' said coach Bob Bradley. 'For tonight all we can do is look hard at ourselves and continue to try to move the game forward.'

Defender Jay DeMerit said the success of the team had created 'a really special time' for the US game. 'There's a reason the US sold more tickets than any other country to come here.

The support has been absolutely amazing back home. We've seen the atmospheres grow, we've seen the fans start to pay attention. We've shown that together, as fans and as players and as a country, we can come together and make really special things happen.'