Supposedly more Americans than any other country will be at the World Cup (again). But will they actually show up for our games? Will this give us an advantage ? Could it be the difference maker to put us through?
The majority of fans in stadiums will be neutral Brazilian fans. But for US games, don't expect them to be very neutral. They will be rabid anti-American fans, especially considering our 3 opponents.
Jazzy, most soccer fans in the USA root for other countries, and not the US. It can be disheartening sometimes, but sadly it's reality. Then, even better, there will be American glory hunters in their Brazil, Argentina, or Spain jerseys who never gave the USMNT a second thought until those countries came to town for some money friendly. Also, we are Americans. Other countries do not like our empire or its power regardless of who runs Washington D.C., so expect to get a hostile reception in other countries 99% of the time.
You know what, this is nonsense. Some Brazilians may love or hate the USA for political reasons. But people who buy World Cup tickets, and especially Brazilians, are fans of futbol, plain and simple. If the US plays attractive football, and looks good, we will win the crowd, especially if our opponents play cynical football. The problem is, the US may have to play cynical football to grind out results. The crowd probably will not be on our side if that is the case, even after our Brazilian PR trip.
Man, I'm not sure where people are getting the idea that the USMNT is especially hated abroad, outside of a couple rivals like Mexico. I'm going to guess most Brazilian fans will be pretty indifferent to the US so long as we're not playing Brazil. There's no soccer rivalry to speak of between US and Brazil.
If we somehow end up playing Argentina at any point in the tournament then I would bet the Brazilians will be cheering for us.
what do Brazilian fans even think of our NT or our boys like Dempsey and Bradley and Altidore? Do they underrate us or do they enjoy that we are underdogs?
There is no way we will be the crowd favorite against Ghana. Book it. The large majority of the crowd will be rooting for them.
Because they see them as the underdogs? Because they don't like the USA? Because they wanna see an African side advance?
Because of the lay of the land in that area of Brazil. The slave trade went through a neighboring state (Bahia). And there is a GIGANTIC population of Black African Brazilians that live nearby .... many of them tracing their roots to the region of Africa now known as Ghana. And having been to this area of Brazil, I can tell you right now that in parts of this region, you would think you were sitting in a neighborhood in the middle of sub-Saharan Africa, right down to the food, religious customs, dress, etc. They are going to support Ghana. It simply doesn't matter if the US team acts like the little engine that could and plays well.
Bahia is the land of macumba, in all its varieties (umbanda, quimbanda and candomblé). Those are Bantu beliefs though. Which tells me the origin of many of those people imported as slaves was from further South than Ghana. Bantus don't reach to Ghana. They may have been embarked there, but the Portuguese were bringing them from Mozambique and Angola. Expecting people of Bantu background to cheer for Ghanaians is like expecting people of Slavic background to cheer for Sweden.
Of course if Sweden were playing, say, Ghana in a lot of Slavic cities, the home crowd would be making monkey noises in support of the Swedes... (Also doesn't hurt that the best Swedish player probably of all time is ethnically a Slav)
In his book not once did he refer to himself as a Swede. Might have actually been the chip on his shoulder that kept him advancing unlike any other Swede has done before him.
I've been there several times and was dating a gal from Bahia, who practiced candomble, whom I met while studying in DC. What you may have learned on paper does not translate to what's 'on the ground.' They will be cheering for Ghana, and will do so with GREAT fervor.
Sure some will be. The whole Panafrican thing, like the Russians who cheer for any European over the Asians, in tennis, for example. But won't be a majority of people. The whole pan-continental stuff is not as widely disseminated as proper tribal allegiance. Humans are funny though. So who knows what different aspects come into mind. Some may cheer for the USA because they find Emma Watson hot, some may cheer against the USA because of "imperialism," some may cheer for Germany because they love Basic Channel, some may cheer against Portugal because they dislike how their news portray Brazil, etc.
I will leave you to believe whatever you wish. I will believe what I know from actually being in the region and seeing with my own eyes. In that particular region, they, in great numbers (as so-called neutrals), will be rooting for the Black African team. Full stop. If I could drop you in the midst of it, you would agree to, but I can't. So alas, I will discontinue trying to convince you of what I know to be the truth from actual on the ground experience.
I've been to Brazil several times too, but in the South. Only visited Bahia. They're likely to root for whomever they consider is the underdog, at least from the people I know. I bet Ghana gets more support when facing Germany. Surprisingly, most people don't hate the USA. Heck, most people love American pop culture everywhere --if this were Civilization, the USA would have won a Cultural Victory in 1983, when Thriller came out. And I've been lucky to travel a lot. The whole idea that automatically people from poorer countries/regions hate the USA out of envy is paranoid BS. BTW, I was born and partially raised in Buenos Aires.
I DEFINITELY agree with the bolded. It's not a matter of them hating the US. Indeed, when I would go there, it was very apparent that the Black Brazilians there actually admired the US a bit (especially that Black Americans seemed to have done so well by their standards ..... yes, I'm Black). I had conversation upon conversation on my trips there with my counterparts in Brazil. But they don't have to hate the US to feel an overwhelming sense of pride that a Black African team is swinging into town. And they WILL. That's where we diverge. I never said anything about them hating the US. The US' status is completely irrelevant as to why they won't be choosing to root for us in large numbers.
The USMNT is the direct representative of the American Empire in international soccer. By default, the USMNT will be hated abroad, regardless of how non-Americans say in public how much they love the USA. Behind our backs, they talk shit about us and wish for our failure. It's ok to accept that as Americans, we will have bull's eyes on our backs until we are no longer an empire, but even then, we will still be hated for whatever grievances people have.
I think you should try traveling more and interacting with regular people from other countries so you can put this to the test a bit more. While plenty of people from all over the globe find American foreign policy disagreeable, outside the heavily Muslim countries in Asia and Africa, there are few places in the world where American culture or the American people are widely despised. I can't speak to Brazil in particular, but as someone with loads of close family members living in Peru, I can tell you that throughout much of South America, American pop culture is extremely popular and Americans are well liked and considered to have a "coolness" appeal. I'm not saying there aren't gripes about the American government, or that Americans are above criticism, but frankly South Americans are so preoccupied with hating other South Americans that they have no capacity to expend a lot of hate on people from the United States. The other members in this thread who have had extensive first-hand experience with South Americans (@Suyuntuy and @onefineesq) seem to back me up on this in their previous posts. The foreigners aren't all out to get us.