adminSOCCER is still far enough below the radar in the United States for Robbie Keane to lead a relatively normal life in his adopted city of Los Angeles.
Intending to watch the US take on Belgium in the last 16 of the Fifa World Cup, the Republic of Ireland international was able to head into town with Los Angeles Galaxy technical director Jovan Kirovski in virtual anonymity.
The scene that confronted the former Wolves, Coventry, Leeds, Tottenham and Liverpool forward was a big surprise.
“The place was absolutely packed,” says Keane, 34, who has been in California for almost three years, playing for Major League Soccer (MLS) side LA Galaxy.
“Jovan played 62 times for the United States.
“He said he had never seen anything like it and the difference to the previous World Cup was incredible. The whole country got hooked.”
Despite a 2-1 defeat in extra time,US President Barack Obama was sufficiently impressed to make a telephone call to goalkeeper Tim Howard and skipper Clint Dempsey.
That personal message of congratulations from one of the most powerful men in the world could prove to be as significant as anything that happened on the pitch in Brazil.
The conversation may have lasted only 123 seconds, but soccer had been given a big thumbs-up by the White House.
That such a call would ever take place was pretty implausible a decade ago.
In 2003, the Giants Stadium announcer could not even get the name of England’s most celebrated player correct, introducing “Sir Bobby Carlton” to the 79,000 supporters at the pre-season friendly between Manchester United and Juventus.
It drew sniggers from the English contingent in the press box, as did the random bursts of applause for goal-kicks and successful offside traps that raised heads in the media area from seasoned hacks who thought they were missing something.
In hindsight, it should not have been such a shock.
An education process was under way, one that had begun back in 1994, when the States hosted the World Cup for the one and so far only time in the tournament’s history.
That process was aimed at securing soccer’s place in American sporting culture on a permanent basis, rather than the fleeting joy of the defunct North American Soccer League, which brought Pele, Franz Beckenbauer and George Best to the country and spawned the New York Cosmos.
As recently as 2000, MLS was still using penalty shootouts to decide matches, so concerned was the fledgling league at the potential reaction to a drawn game – almost an abomination in sports like basketball, baseball, ice hockey and American football.
“When our league was founded, we wanted to appease everyone and get everyone to understand,” says Galaxy president Chris Klein.
Not any more, he says.
“This is the world sport, the best game there is,” adds Klein.
“I am quite confident that, if we continue to do it the right way, we have enough soccer fans in this country to make it wildly successful.”
With Manchester United due to take on Keane’s Galaxy in the first of four pre-season games on Wednesday, soccer faces another test of its popularity and staying power in the States. — BBC
Online Reporter