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The USA doubled viewing figures against England but soccer remains in a halfway house between success and failure If lack of bunting in the street is any indication, America appears to be living up to its reputation for glorious isolation. While the rest of the globe is already gripped by World Cup fever, here in the US there are scant outward signs of football – or rather soccer – obsession. There are no Stars and Stripes in the windows beyond the usual patriotic quota, no cars honking horns as goals are scored. Very few papers across the country lived up to the chutzpah of the New York Post, which plastered its post-England game front page with the headline: “USA wins 1-1”. In the American heartlands excitement levels were decidedly muted by comparison, despite that impressive scoreline. The Houston Chronicle was far more interested in college American football than in the England battle, even though Saturday’s goalscorer Clint Dempsey is a local boy from Nacogdoches in Texas. But it would be wrong to imply that this country is indifferent to the World Cup. Last Saturday, sports bars across the US were packed with fans, from the 2,000 who watched the game in Studio Square in New York to thousands more who squatted in the home of the San Francisco Giants baseball team to watch the match on its big screen. About 17 million Americans watched the England game on television – a relatively piddly number compared with the 106m who sat transfixed in February as the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl. But that’s still double the viewing figures during the opening round of the 2006 World Cup, and it even outstrips the popularity of the recent Stanley Cup, the culmination of the 2009-10 season in ice hockey – a game that is considered an American staple. Christopher Harris, who runs MajorLeagueSoccerTalk.com from his home in Florida, thinks US football is finally coming of age. “At this point soccer has become a mainstream sport in television viewing, and that’s the first time you can really say that.” Jason Davis of MatchFitUSA.com is not quite so upbeat. “Soccer here is still fairly under the surface. It’s almost like a secret language – fans don’t talk about it much, because it’s hard to tell who’s into it and who’s not.” The strength of the World Cup following in America probably lies somewhere in the middle of Harris’s optimism and Davis’s uncertainty. Evidence of the sport’s halfway house between success and failure can be seen in the coverage the match against England received from the US media. Commentators felt they could only convey the significance of the game by invoking baseball lore; the beautiful game could not be allowed to speak for itself. So the magnitude of Robert Green’s mishandling of Dempsey’s shot had to be likened to the famous occasion when Bill Buckner, playing for the Boston Red Sox in the 1986 World Series, let the ball slip through his legs, ultimately costing his team the championship. Just how far the love of the sport grows through this World Cup depends, of course, in large part on how the US team gets on, and that in turn depends on the patchy quality of its squad. Tim Howard in goal has already achieved hero status across the States after his performance on Saturday, and with players like Carlos Bocanegra and Landon Donovan the defence and mid-field are proving solid. But there are question marks surrounding the strikers – Jozy Altidore, Edson Buddle, Robbie Findley and Herculez Gomez – and their ability to score. The next challenge is Slovenia today in Johannesburg, a fixture that is filling American soccer fans with some trepidation. Both Harris and Davis expect the USA to go through to the last 16, but they are divided over the prospect of facing the mighty Germany. “We’ve got the mentality and the psychology of a strong and united team,” Harris says, “and as for Germany, USA always plays best when they are the underdog.” Davis, again, is not so sure. “If we have to face Germany, that would be difficult, and I don’t see us going on.” World Cup 2010 USA Ed Pilkington guardian.co.uk

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World Cup 2010: Horns still stay silent for the underdog USA | Ed Pilkington