With World Cup fever rising nationwide, Moorestown residents have allowed themselves to partake in the madness, cheering on the U.S. team and, in general, appreciating the beauty of the game. I caught up with a few of the fans during the July 1 match against Belgium, which saw the Americans get knocked out of the tournament.
“I will say that before this World Cup, I had hardly ever watched soccer,” Moorestown resident Justin Weaver said. “But now, I’m glued to the television every day. The game is much more exciting than I thought.”
Weaver shares the sentiments of many casual soccer fans who are new to the sport, but have found this World Cup intriguing.
“I definitely never gave soccer a real chance before the World Cup,” Will Allaire, another Moorestown resident, said. “I guess I was like most Americans. I just thought it was a bunch of guys falling and rolling around on the ground. But when you really watch it, these games are more intense than any sport I’ve ever seen.”
This has been a particularly exciting World Cup, with record scoring goals and late game heroics. During the group stage, there were 136 goals scored, which amounts to nearly 3.5 per game.
“The scoring is a big part of why I have been watching these games,” Allaire said. “All you ever hear as Americans is soccer games always end 1–0 or 0–0. And then, I started watching this tournament, and these guys are scoring goals left and right.”
The frenetic pace and goal scoring has not deterred life long fans either. While so much is being made about the casual fans enjoying the games, those fans who wait four years for this to come around are also enjoying this immensely.
“Of course, you love to see so many people coming out to watch the games and to hear all the radio and television programs talking about the games,” Robert Cooney, a soccer enthusiast, said. “I grew up watching soccer, so I am always invested, and I love that this year’s tournament is breaking goal scoring records.”
According to ESPN, the television rating for the World Cup has been the best for a non-football event in the network’s history.
This statistic has raised more questions than it has answered, however. Namely, what does this tournament do for soccer in America moving forward?
“I hate to say it, but I probably won’t follow soccer after this tournament,” Weaver said. “I love watching these games, but after the nationalism is gone, I just don’t think it’s going to be exciting anymore.”
That is not the sentiment shared by all, however. Die-hard fans such as Cooney say they will continue to watch no matter what, and even casual fans such as Allaire say they will certainly pay more attention now.
“I’m certainly not going to watch a soccer game when a football game is on, but now that I have seen just how exciting the games are, I’m going to try to keep up with it,” Allaire said. “The most important thing is now I know players’ names and where they play and what they look like, so when I turn on a game during the season, I’ll recognize some of them.”
