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SAN JOSE, Calif. – The excitement surrounding the FIFA World Cup is reaching beyond watch parties and television screens, drawing more fans to local soccer matches.<\/p>\n
Dig deeper:<\/p>\n
Thousands packed PayPal Park on Friday night for the San Jose Earthquakes’ international friendly against Club Tijuana, where parents and children alike said the world’s biggest soccer tournament has them following the sport more closely than ever.<\/p>\n
The Quakes lost 2-1, but fans say the final score wasn’t the main focus of the evening.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“We just became season ticket holders last season for the Earthquakes, and so we really ramped up on soccer and everything, but after the World Cup, like I think it’s expanded more than just, you know, the MLS. Like I think we’re into watching other, you know, leagues,” said Jacky Conner of San Jose.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Children also said they’re finding inspiration in the world’s biggest stars.<\/p>\n
“Messi, because he’s really cool and he’s small like me, and he always believes in himself,” said Eli Toribio of San Francisco.<\/p>\n
Families said the tournament has made soccer feel more visible throughout their daily lives.<\/p>\n
“You get into it. Now, going into the lobby of a hotel, seeing the game playing, watching everybody with their little bracelets, that’s the whole new thing. Even here, purchasing a stuffy and a sweater, you could see it, and it’s great. It’s great to see it in the Bay Area,” said Nathalie Toribio of San Francisco.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Every time Mexico wins, it makes me happy,” said Ezequiel Zarate of Gilroy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Earthquakes see World Cup momentum reaching local fans <\/p>\n
Fans said hosting the World Cup in the United States has sparked conversations about soccer among people who may not have followed the sport before.<\/p>\n
The growing enthusiasm comes as the Earthquakes head into the second half of the MLS season after one of the strongest starts in club history under head coach Bruce Arena.<\/p>\n
What they’re saying:<\/p>\n
The club says it has seen increased interest in both the sport and the team throughout the World Cup.<\/p>\n
“It’s been incredible amount of interest we’ve had in the sport of soccer, in the Earthquakes. We’ve always been hosting a lot of watch parties. That’s gotten a lot of new people introduced over who the Earthquakes are, and that’s translated. We have a lot of interest and demand in our upcoming games when the regular season restarts, end of July – July 22, July 25,” said Earthquakes COO Jed Mettee.<\/p>\n
The Earthquakes have also hosted World Cup watch parties at San Pedro Square while continuing youth camps and clinics across the Bay Area.<\/p>\n
“Every four years when the World Cup happens, we see a big boost in energy, and this World Cup has had more energy than ever before because right here on our home soil.”<\/p>\n
What’s next:<\/p>\n
The Earthquakes return to MLS action later this month with the California Clasico against the LA Galaxy on July 25.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The club expects about 50,000 fans for the rivalry match at Stanford Stadium.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Source: San Jose Earthquakes, interviews with fans<\/p>\n
News<\/a>Sports<\/a>Bay Area Soccer Stories<\/a>FIFA World Cup<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN JOSE, Calif. – The excitement surrounding the FIFA World Cup is reaching beyond watch parties and television…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386614,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[94894,94893,100,88,90,89,127,5393],"class_list":["post-386613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-bay-area-soccer-stories","tag-futbol-hq","tag-news","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-sports","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}