Americano, But It’s Still Espresso At Heart

In 1998, I went to a World Cup match on a US corporate hospitality package.We met for drinks in a fancy Paris hotel, where a Spanish businessman put a stop to those dismissing the American approach to soccer. We were used to urine-smelling stadia, foul-mouthed chest-banging and chanting, and a subtle appreciation of the nuances of a game that can have as many interpretations as people watching it. This sanitised rock and roll version was new to us. But the Spanish man, in his tailored suit, said, “Say what you like about the Gringos, but they sure know how to organise a World Cup.”

He had been to USA ’94, and was delighted. Valderrama wigs, Mexican waves and Chelsea Clinton provided enduring images. The challenge, however, was how to make the biggest and most affluent market – US – love our beautiful and most noble of games as much as us. The answer seemed to be “more goals”. Americans like goals, we were told, so one option might be to abolish the off-side rule, although, for many, this would signify the end of football. Another could be to increase penalty shots, free kicks and other set pieces.
Almost 40 years ago, Argentinian cartoonist Roberto Fontanarrosa, in his short story Football and Science , described a future in which committees of men in towers adjacent to the stadium would dissect every move and detail on the field of play through strategically positioned cameras. USA 2026 (co-hosts Mexico and Canada barely get a mention) feels like it.

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