With U.S. missing, other teams court their fans
MOSCOW — American soccer fans: Iceland’s prime minister wants your support.
The United States is absent from the World Cup for the first time since 1986, which means up to 325 million Americans are temporarily free agents.
Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir says her island nation about 900 miles off Norway’s coast is the perfect pick for their passion. Iceland is the least-populous country ever at soccer’s showcase with just 350,000.
“We can do with more supporters. We absolutely need them,” she said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “We’ve got a lot of support from people around the world. I think a lot of people like the way the Icelandic team played. I think the team spirit really was something that people liked.”
Costa Rica, Egypt, Morocco, Peru and Saudi Arabia already are out, and Argentina is on the verge of elimination, but alluring alternatives remain for those still unsure how to release their pent-up fervor with no U.S. red-white-and-blue to root for.
About 200,000 tickets were bought by American residents for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, second behind only the host nation and up from approximately 130,000 four years earlier in South Africa. The U.S. remains second this year, but the total is down to approximately 87,000, FIFA said. That means more soccer supporters back home.
Reyka Vodka set up viewing parties in a dozen or so states to recruit fans for “Strakarnir Okkar,” the nickname of Iceland’s “Our Boys.” Viet Lam, a 35-year-old emergency room pharmacist from Seattle, was at The George & Dragon Pub to watch Iceland’s 2-0 loss Friday to Nigeria, which started at 8 a.m. PDT. He first visited Iceland in 2013 and has gone back two more times.
“I just fell in love with it. It was my first solo trip ever,” he said. “I was gone for seven weeks and it was first stop. The landscape doesn’t look like anything else.”
Former American star Landon Donovan is part of Wells Fargo’s “Vamos Mexico” marketing campaign, proclaiming on a scarf: “My other team is Mexico.” The 35-year-old hopes El Tri can reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 1986.
“I find myself rooting for Mexico, having been there and seeing how the people have suffered over the years with this fifth game,” Donovan said. “I think if fans need a team to get behind, they can get behind Mexico and hope to see that happen.”
Given that Mexico is the Americans’ biggest rival, Donovan’s ads provoked an angry riposte.
“I’d rather cut off my toe than root for (Mexican flag),” tweeted former U.S. forward Taylor Twellman, now ESPN’s lead soccer analyst.
Donovan responded with a statement saying “my heart bleeds red, white and blue and no one should ever question my allegiance to and support of US Soccer and its national teams,” but reiterated that with no American team to cheer for he will root for Mexico.
The American Outlaws supporters group chartered two Boeing 767s from Houston that brought 530 fans to Brazil in 2014, and the U.S. Soccer Federation said it sold its official allotment of about 2,000 tickets. This time? “AO didn’t organize anything,” co-founder Korey Donahoo said.
Mexico has the biggest base for attracting U.S. fan affection.
Among 43 million foreign-born U.S. residents in 2015, 11.58 million were born in Mexico, according to the Pew Research Center. The next seven-highest totals were all countries that failed to reach the World Cup: China, India, the Philippines, El Salvador, Vietnam, Cuba and the Dominican Republic.