Soccer 24-7 Blog

American(s) Abroad

By: Celticrugby

I sat around awhile debating on what to call this article, or what might be a series of articles chronicling the life and times of an American soccer fan supporting his national team. I ended up settling on “American(s) Abroad” because we (as US soccer fans) are truly aliens in our own country to some extent, especially in regards to the world's most popular sport. Always outnumbered, but not always out sung. That's what I say.

Our experience is a unique one. Most around the world may have had the experience of being an “away fan”. It gives them a buzz to go to some EPL match and sit in the stands in rival territory. However, that's a choice.

You as an Arsenal fan are choosing to go to White Hart Lane and sit and cheer on your team against “the enemy”. Here, it's not a choice. It's reality. You are an away fan. Every game.

Except, this time it's in your country, in your city, and in your stadium. It's a bit of a bizarro universe, and for as much flak as the international media gives United States soccer (Sawker!111) fans I don't think they know what the diehards go through or give them credit for it.

They just slander the fan that doesn't care for the game (like those who prefer one sport to another would do to someone), rather than talk about the supporters who defy international law and go to Cuba for a world cup qualifier because it's their team and they are indeed that passionate to do so.

Do you know what kind of testicular fortitude it takes for an American to go to Cuba? It takes the same kind of fortitude it took some Spartak Moscow fans to go to an away game back in the old Soviet leagues when travel outside of your city was banned.

We're talking serious ramifications. Not, sneaking on a flight to get to Lisbon for a CL Final or jumping a turnstile to get into a game with a slap on a wrist a small fine or maybe a night in the drunk tank, but fines in the tune of thousands of dollars, felonies and jail time.

But of course, we are from the land that calls the sport soccer, and we don't worship it like others think we should, so things like that get overlooked. Instead, stereotypical negatives are shoved down our throats, and our own old white guy sports media even buys into a lot of it (using the same mentality on US soccer fans as other fans and media do abroad).

Despite this never ending cycle of bullshit, as we kids say 'hatin on' our fan base increases, our passion grows and our family gets larger (and some, are beginning to listen).

In my own personal experience I for one am an away fan at pretty much every sporting event I've been to since I moved from Minnesota to Michigan. However, there is a difference being an away fan of an American sport in an American stadium, than it is to be a US soccer fan in a US stadium when you are outnumbered 4 to 1 or 6 to 1 by the opposition and you are “at home”. Entirely different feelings, emotions and a more intense buzz.

At the end of the games against Mexico and Honduras I knew our team couldn't lose, because the walk out of Chicago's Soldier field would be too unbearable to endure. When it's say the Minnesota Twins losing to the Detroit Tigers, you don't get that kind of feeling at all. Does it fucking suck when you lose? Yes, of course. However for me and for at least the sport of soccer, and the US national team is on a completely different plain of intensity, nerves and sometimes pain.

There are some countries that I believe could be in the same boat we are those being Canada and Australia, ones with large immigrant populations but I can only speak for my own.

For any Canucks or Aussies out there, that would like to share with us their experiences please let me know and shoot us an email at: Soccer247blog@gmail.com.

Originally I planned for this to be a running diary of the USA/Costa Rica match, which I watched with the Motor City Supporters Group (a group of Detroit soccer fans who get together for matches I have recently met up with) and I was going to intro it with a bit about what it's like to be “one of us”. It ended up turning into an entirely different article in itself (this one), and one where I could easily ramble on further.

Stay tuned for my running diary of the game that saw the US qualify for in the #1 spot in CONCACAF for the world cup.

I took eight pages of notes, so you'll likely get a kick out of it....or at least a different viewpoint of how fans of other countries around the world support their teams.

Until then...Americans, I think Nike might have it right on this one:


Sometimes a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Take that step and buy into your national team.