IRENE, South Africa — The bars are stocked across America, and the pubs are getting ready in England. A 70 1/2-foot billboard of Clint Dempsey stands near Penn Station in Manhattan, and there’s even a large poster of Landon Donovan in a store along Piccadilly Circus.
American soccer has never been more popular in the United States or its players more well-known across the world. And on Saturday comes the first competitive match between the U.S. and England since the great American upset at the 1950 World Cup. For one afternoon, millions will be watching from California to New York. Like never before in the U.S., this is the sport’s moment.
“I don’t know what’s going to be better — at the bar with my friends back home watching it or actually playing it — because it’s going to be special,” goalkeeper Tim Howard said Thursday.
On the first cloudy day since the U.S. team started workouts June 1, the Americans practiced in Pretoria. Then their red-white-and-blue bus with “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Victory!” on the side made the two-hour drive to Rustenburg, where the big game will be played.
Thousands of tickets in refurbished 38,646-capacity Royal Bafokeng Stadium were purchased in the U.S. for the match at the foot of the Magaliesberg mountain range in the North West Province. Stevan Galich, a fan from Chicago, organized transportation for 350 American fans from Sandton, a north Johannesburg suburb, to Rustenburg on Saturday. His party plans to meet outside the stadium with Sam’s Army and the American Outlaws, two supporters’ groups. They hope to offset the roar from English fans.
Donald Gips, the U.S. ambassador to South Africa, said FIFA estimated 132,000 tickets for the 64-game tournament were bought in the U.S., the most in any nation outside the host.
It’s far different from 1990, when the U.S. team returned to the World Cup for the first time in 40 years and few American fans made the trek to Italy. There wasn’t much to root for, with the U.S. losing three straight games.
“We thought we knew what the World Cup was. And you know what? Reality slapped us right in the face,” said Marcelo Balboa, a defender on that U.S. team who is covering the tournament for radio network Futbol de Primera as well as writing a diary for The Denver Post. “Soccer has just grown so much. Look at where we’re at now, and look at where we stood in ’90.”
While the U.S. is 2-7 in head-to-head matchups against England, eight of those were exhibitions.
