The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Nations vie for U.S. World Cup support
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 (1,450 kilometers) 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 Thiago de Sousa, left, who moved to the United States from Brazil nine years ago, watches a live broadcast of a World Cup match between Brazil and Costa Rica that began at 5 a.m Pacific time June 22 at Doyle’s Public House in Tacoma, Wash. 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-yearold 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.