Exactly right. Although from America I too am a Rangers fan. Living in St Louis the highest level team we have is PDL, and they're affliated with *gag* Celtic. But still I buy my season tickets, don my green, throw up a little and drive 40 miles each way to cheer on our boys; because they're OUR boys. Sure I have other teams I root for; Rangers, Timbers, Newcastle, VfB Stuttgart, but nothing is the same as supporting your local side. And when it comes to the NT there is no excuse to not to root for your home country. There too I root for my ancestoral homeland (Scotland) and a country I lived in for a time (Argentina) but never against the USMNT.
I root for Manchester United and the New York Red Bulls. Kind of like dark knight said, it would be more rewarding for me if the Red Bulls won their first title than if Manchester United won another one.
Welcome, I'm new as well. I live in CA right now, but 90% of my family live in Pennsylvania so I passionately follow all teams from Philadelphia, including the Union. It's annoying at times trying to find their games on TV, so I just stick to watching the game online. Like a lot have said involving the MLS, you have to look at how for the league has come. Back in the early 2000's, it was frankly a pretty dull league. Most teams just played at a local college stadium for their games. Now almost every team has their own stadium, and the talent level has improved GREATLY. I defiantly feel more attached to the Union then I do Aston Villa (favorite epl team) that are thousands of miles away
I wish some "American" MLS fan's can show me the rule book on what club's your allowed to follow and which one's your not allowed to follow. So according to you IFCLI30 if I'm Colombian and Italian but live in the US and the match is US vs Colombia, if I don't support US then I'm a snob. You sir are a complete moron. Or is someone only a snob if they support the better team, no matter if they are a real fan of the club or not? It's a shame so many people here (not this site, the US in general) have the American attitude of we are better than everyone else and if you don't agree then F U! As I said, my local team is Red Bulls and I've been to games, I've been to a few other clubs games too, BUT I enjoy and think many other clubs and leagues are much better. I'm a Barca fan, but if the two should meet, I'd support Red Bulls but yeah I might slip a cheer here and there when Messi scores 3 goals on them. Perhaps your the snob who doesn't really know what it's like to be a fan because your so narrow minded.
As I understand the term, a Eurosnob is an American who only follows European soccer and thinks that MLS is beneath him and not worthy of his attention. Since you are Colombian and Italian rather than American, I don't think the term applies to you. Should a Colombian root for Colombia against the United States even through they live in the United States? Of course they should.
Roger, That was the actual wording of what was said. I understand Eurosnob but he upped it by one and added I'm a "special" kind of snob. If you were to get technical about it don't most "American's" come from other countries? So lfcli30 must be an American Indian with such die hard support for the US.
Okay you asked for it... America: - MLS: New York Red Bulls - NASL: The whole league - USL PRO: Antigua - USL PDL: The whole league Mexico: - Liga MX: Tigres Brazil: Sao Paolo Argentina: Arsenal FC Peru: Sporting Cristal Uruguay: Club Nacional de Football India: The whole damn league Japan: Nagoya Grampus South Korea: Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors North Korea: April 25 Singapore: Home United FC Malaysia: whole league Australia: whole league Qatar: Al-Saad Nepal: Nepal Police Club Maldives: Victory SC Nigeria: Warri Wolves FC Ivory Coast: USC Bassam Bermuda: Robin Hood FC England: - Premier League: Arsenal FC - Championship: Wolverhampton Wanderers - League 1: Notts County - League 2: AFC Wimbledon and Barnet FC - Conference: Luton Town Spain: Real Sociedad Portugal: - First Tier: Sporting Clube de Portugal - Second Tier: Sporting Clube de Portugal B Italy: AC Milan Netherlands: Ajax and AZ Austria: Red Bull Salzberg Germany: VfB Stuttgart - 4th Tier: Red Bull Leipzig Russia: Zenit St. Petersburg Ukraine: Shaktar Donesk New Zealand: Auckland City FC Bangladesh: Mohammedan Sporting Club Fiji: Nadroga FC International Teams: England, United States, India, Netherlands, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Argentina, Fiji, New Zealand, Tahiti (Confederations Cup 2014!!!), Canada.
As for my history and how I started supporting those teams... In 2008 my dad got me FIFA 08. I hated soccer then (I was still in middle school and of course the perception of soccer is not so good so I follow) but I play one game on FIFA 08 and I was hooked. My love grew bigger sense soccer is the number 1 sport in my family (Before I ignored that). So from then I became a fan. My first team was Arsenal from England. My dad supported them and he supported them because he was born in North London. So natural choice. Then after a while I started getting bored and also being called a fake fan so I also started supporting the New York Red Bulls. I kept with those 2 teams ONLY from 2008 to 2010. Then in 2010 I started working on wikipedia. I was browsing and I saw the India I-League pages were shit so I started editing and soon enough I got into the league. I was then following teams from England, India, and United States. After more time I started watching more. Watched FSC shows like Football Asia or GOLTV's GOAL Gamberee and I started getting into clubs from those areas. I then got even more curious and eventually it just happened. Now all those teams I mentioned in the above post are targeted on my bookmarks so I always keep up with them. It gives you a great feeling because you learn more about football, the difference from one country to another, different styles. The troubles facing a country. Its amazing.
But the US conquered and displaced the Amerindian people, so I doubt he's an Indian. He's probably white. Most "patriotic" people are.
Wow Arsenalkid700 ....... I thought I followed a lot of leagues/teams. My local club is Southport, currently in the Blue Square Premier (the 5th tier of English football). My son and I go to every home game, and as many aways as other committments allow. He is a ballboy, and tannoy announcer for the reserve team and youth teams (sadly not running this season for financial reasons); I am in charge of the programme selllers; and we are both active members of the Supporters Trust. Although the standard of football is not the highest, I can fully recommend the experience you get following your local team, the empathy you feel for the team and club cannot easily be put into words. As a football fan though, I do follow other leagues around the world, and to add to my enjoyment have chosen a team in each league to follow; so in no particular order ....... France - Paris St-Germain because my sister lived and worked in Paris back in the 80's and it's the only French city I've ever been to. Scotland - Hearts because Edinburgh is my favourite Scottish city. Italy - Juventus because they are the only Italian team I've seen live, back in 1984. MLS - Toronto because I have family who live there, and am a regular visitor. Brazil - Santos because as a kid I saw Pele play. Ukraine - Dynamo Kyiv, a more recent affection, from the 90's, I was enchanted by the team of Rebrov and Sheva. Croatia - Dinamo Zagreb because I used to work with a guy about 20 years ago who was a mad keen fan, and he got me interested in them. As for the national team, I watch international football, but can't bring myself to support England for a number of reasons. I feel no real affiliation to the overpaid prima donnas who wear the England shirt, and in fact actively dislike/hate many of them. I've always considered myself a proud Sandgrounder (born and bred in the town of Southport), and a Lancastrian (the County of my birth); and feel no real affection for many other parts of the country, especially the Home Counties, in and around London, who are favoured by government in England, to the detriment of us up North. The England team, playing their home games at Wembley, feels almost like another London club side to me, and the fact that all home games are played at Wembley, just another example of how London is favoured by the establishment.
Most Americans do have ancestors who were born in other countries. But I don't think that most Americans come from other countries themselves. I think that the majority of them were born here. Many of those who were born here have parents who were born elsewhere, and they grew up rooting for another country because their parents did. That seems natural to me. People do tend to form lifelong sports loyalties when they are kids. But if, for example, I were to root for Northern Ireland against the US because my grandmother was born there, even though she left there 111 years ago and was never a sports fan anyway, that would be stretching things a bit.
Join your fellow state citizen Panicfc and become supporter of Feyenoord! To show you why look at the video how we introduce new players on the annual "Feyenoord Open Dag" or in English the "Feyenoord Open Fan Day". Last weekend over 45 000 fans were there: hope you will join us
Hello, I'm Neel from Oceanside California. I fan of barca, real, milan, man city, dortmund, ... But because I don't have beINsport, I can watch classicos, and serie a. There are some complications with installing dishtv. So, where can I watch la liga, serie a? Bars, which ones? Or is there a reliable online source ?
I'm still confused about your background. You have dual Colombian/Italian citizenship and you're just living here, or you immigrated, or you were born and raised here and your heritage is Colombian and Italian?
Just getting re-introduced to the game of soccer all over again last time I played was when I was 7 yrs old (had a hat trick for my soccer club in a game once LOL) now I'm 26, I wanted to ask all you wonderful peeps at Big Soccer, just what exactly do I gotta look for when watching a soccer game ? What books and magazines are the best ? I wanna learn the game of soccer from top to bottom, history everything so if you guys can give me a hand I would very much appreciate it. GO LA GALAXY !!!!
I might be alone in this, but I wonder how much it matters....what teams/countries you support, compared to where you're from. I mean, I understand the argument that people have against so-called "Eurosnobs"--you live in America, so why not support your local team? But why does it matter? If so-and-so lives in the US and doesn't like MLS, or likes some European club, how does it affect me as a fan? I support the Rapids, my local team. Since I was born and live in the USA, I also support the US national teams. If I understand correctly, some think that makes me "better" than a fan who, for example, supports Barcelona even though they have no ties (geographical, ethnic, etc.) to that team or part of the world. I agree that being involved with your local team can make you more emotionally invested in it, but I don't like that people are putting others down because they're more invested in an international team then they are their local one. I guess it doesn't matter to me who people support--if they want to be Eurosnobs, or "glory hunters", let them! There should be no clauses of superiority or inferiority attached to that. Let people be fans of whomever they choose. Honestly, I'm just happy that soccer is getting more popular in this country. I remember the dark days when Dish Network had one EPL match a week on pay-per-view. I paid 15 bucks to watch Blackburn and Bolton sleep-walk their way to a 0-0 draw! Edit to add: In response to the OP's question/problem--in my opinion, you can support any club or country you want, for any reasons you want. Your choice(s) will not enhance, or shit upon, my personal experience as a fan in the least.
I suppose it could affect you as a fan, because if Americans don't support MLS, the league will disappear and what little coverage soccer gets in the mainstream sports media will go along with it. The average American (and note, I did not say all or most of us) does not care about and does not want to know about anything that happens outside their own borders, so MLS must survive for soccer to maintain any relevance in the US. Americans have a short memory and if the league disappears, they will not even remember that soccer even existed. This is exactly what happened when the 2 soccer leagues the USA had in the 1930s folded and when the NASL folded in the 80s. Soccer faded into complete irrelevancy for almost the entirety of the 20th century, far, far eclipsed by Gridiron and the National Pastime. Then, for most of the 20th century, the politicians and other political pundits in America went out of their way to paint soccer as a "foreign" sport played by little kids not good enough for real "Amurrrrican" sports, Communists, Foreigners, and ************s. The American public, which is very easily manipulated by its policy makers and news media, lapped up everything those two groups said about soccer, and never bothered to question such opinions. So Americans not paying attention to their own league has real consequences for American soccer, even with the Internet and its influence over popular culture. It's very easy for demagogues to demonize soccer if they are allowed to get the upper hand in the media wars and they will do so if given the opportunity. If MLS folds, soccer will disappear from the public consciousness of this country for another century or two, at a minimum. So the attitude that Eurosnobs have must be changed somehow. I don't know how, though.
That is the most hyperbolic, overblown, over-reactionary statement I've heard this month, if not this century.
Actually, Whip and AguiluchoMerengue have said far more hyperbolic things than that. I mean, how many people have threads that go, "SHOULD THE USA AIM ITS GUNS TOWARD ENGLAND!" ?
Hello all, I'm Paulie. I'm from New Jersey and I'm a big Serie A fan. I'd like to get more into the MLS but I barely ever get to watch it since it's so poorly advertised. It's also hard to catch the redbulls on TV. Anyhow, my favorite team is Napoli and hopefully I can strike up some good conversations on here. To be honest the only person I ever get to talk soccer with is my father. I'm here to hopefully find some friends to talk with!