Crumb
c/ussoccer · by CombatWombat@feddit.online · 47d

Some Americans are reluctant to cheer for the US at the World Cup. They shouldn’t be

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jul/04/some-americans-are-reluctant-to-cheer-for-the-us-at-the-world-cup-they-shouldnt-be

There are plenty of reasons for Americans to feel discomfort about the behavior of their country. But sports have a way of bringing joy and unity

-7 points · 5 comments · view on lemmy.world

5 Comments

apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 47d (3 replies)

I ain't watching and think more people should not watch. It is ok to dissent in this way.

CombatWombat@feddit.online · -1 pts · 47d (2 replies)

For me, the math doesn't chalk out. When I'm deciding Monday whether to go to the local gay sports bar vs, say, the local quiet reading bar, it's hard to trace a meaningful way in which watching the match is propping up the US government or FIFA more than quietly reading, but there is a significant gap in how much joy I will derive from the two experiences. But that math is intensely personal, and based on subjective experience, and it may add up for you where it does not for me. I think your approach has merit and is commendable, but I find the one Mr Abnos espouses better matches my views of the value of international soccer and connection with the global sporting community.

apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 47d (1 reply)

I just see a lot of these posts today, and it feels like shaming the folks who dissent for very obvious reasons. For one of the many directly applicable reasons: FIFA literally didn't allow an African ref to officiate after complying with the shit USA policy. Nationalism breeds overwrought and stretched explanations for more defense of nationalism.

CombatWombat@feddit.online · 0 pts · 47d

I'm sorry you felt shamed; I enjoyed this op-ed because I too have felt shamed. I read this as an invitation to join us, rather than a shaming for not.

CombatWombat@feddit.online · 0 pts · 47d

I, like many soccer fans, have decided that the circumstances of this World Cup require me to find ways to express my displeasure with FIFA to them monetarily, but take joy and celebrate your fellow Americans where you can, even when we cannot take joy in or celebrate our government:

So if you’re looking for a reason to support the US men’s national team, I beg of you on this Fourth of July, look out your window. If there is a moment of triumph to be had on Monday when the team play Belgium, there will probably be thousands upon thousands of people in your immediate vicinity experiencing the purest joy that one can feel; the kind only sports can deliver with regularity. They will be your neighbors and friends, your co-workers, the clerk at the grocery store, the kitchen staff at your favorite restaurant. They have been in your life before this US run. And they will be there after. You may not have much in common with many of them. But these moments are special because they can draw you closer. They create a unity of ideals where none may have existed before.