The FIFA World Cup is coming to the United States in June, and soccer fans say newcomers don\u2019t need to understand every rule to enjoy the experience.<\/p>\n
Alex Flippin, a soccer influencer, said offsides and stoppage time still confuse many Americans. But spending time around the game reveals it\u2019s not really about understanding every detail.<\/p>\n
Kenny Cooper, a former professional soccer player who played for Manchester United and FC Dallas, said the sport brings people together.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gathers people to be in community\u2026 friendships, relationships, memories\u2026 that\u2019s really the great treasure of soccer,\u201d Cooper said.<\/p>\n
Soccer\u2019s growth in America<\/p>\n
Cooper showed Flippin around the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Frisco. He said the sport has come far since his early days, when teams knocked on doors to give away tickets.<\/p>\n
Fields are now packed with kids. Fans wake up early to watch teams playing around the world at soccer-specific pubs.<\/p>\n
Camille Rogers and Emma Hein work at the Londoner Pub in Addison, Texas, where they take orders between the cheering and chanting that accompanies every match.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeeing these people come out\u2026 rooting for their team\u2026 it\u2019s just insane to me,\u201d Rogers said.<\/p>\n
Hein said the atmosphere gets crowded and rowdy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s shoulder to shoulder\u2026 it\u2019s so rowdy\u2026 it\u2019s so fun,\u201d Hein said.<\/p>\n
A welcoming culture<\/p>\n
Rogers said the culture stands out. Fans find a home for their team and bring a different culture with them.<\/p>\n
Hein said the environment is welcoming despite the intensity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll open you with open arms\u2026 like, \u2018Hey\u2026 this is how we do it,’\u201d Hein said.<\/p>\n
Cooper said there\u2019s no prerequisite to getting involved or watching the game.<\/p>\n
With the World Cup coming to the United States, that invitation is about to expand.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you can get to one\u2026 it\u2019ll be a life-changing experience\u2026but even if you can\u2019t you\u2019re going to feel the pulse of the World Cup,\u201d Cooper said.<\/p>\n
The FIFA World Cup tournament kicks off in June with 104 matches scheduled across 11 U.S. cities, from Miami to Seattle and Los Angeles to Boston.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The FIFA World Cup is coming to the United States in June, and soccer fans say newcomers don\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":617933,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-617932","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-soccer","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=617932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/617933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=617932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=617932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=617932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}