What a great thread! It is sacrilege for me to say this in Columbus, but I actually follow the ins and outs of the USMNT closer than I do the Buckeyes! Far distant to the USA, I tend to pull for, like many others, the countries of my heritage. That would be Scotland, Germany, and Ireland. And all three got drawn into the same group for the Euro 2016 qualifiers!!! I also pull for all CONCACAF teams when playing non-CONCACAF foes. Even Mexico. [ducks under a table]. Same principle for pulling for M!c#!&@n outside of the Big 10--I want the Conference (or Confederation) to be as strong as possible.
1. Ghana (where I was born and my family is from) 2. USA ( All Day, I want soccer to become huge here and the MLS a top 5 league) 3. Holland (Before Ghana and USA were relevant in soccer, saw loads of the dutch and everybody loves them) 4. Mexico (Wife is Mexican and as long as they aren't playing the other three, I am good. When they are I say nothing around her.)
I didn't have a second team until Wales recently won me over. I love that they haven't participated in the Euros or WC since '58 and now behind Bale, Ramsey, and Allen they're finding success.
my earliest recollections of the game are of the 1970 world cup, and the England team, specifically. they were the holders, of course, and it's difficult to comprehend today the legitimacy with which England could be considered 'elite' football - but they were. at any rate, the point is that I was an England fan long before I knew that there was such a thing as an American National Team. it wasn't until '89 that USA came into focus, at all. had we met England in Italy '90, I would've been for England, without question - there's a lot of inertia in 20 years of support. in '94 I knew I was going to be conflicted; but England spared me the trouble by not qualifying; and by '98, a more natural order had taken hold. I still have a very strong attachment to England, though.
Nope. I liked a lot of the games, but I don't have any connection to any of the teams there, which is most of the reason I watch international soccer in the first place. If I could've had a familial connection (Ireland, Norway), maybe I could've gotten behind it if my family cared, but they're not really into soccer. I think it's like most sports fandoms. If your family is all Red Sox fans, it doesn't matter if you grow up in Minnesota, they'll pull you in even if you've never been to Boston. Otherwise, it's sort of weird to form an attachment to a team just by watching them play.
The bandwagon Brazil fans tend to be people that don't follow soccer and buy the "Joga bonita" B.S. Anyone that knows the game knows Brazil are as thuggy as anyone in the back and since 2002, at least, "joga bonita" means dribble the ball around or into the box and fall down when someone defends you. Brazil are one of my least favorite teams. Holland was one of my favorite teams until they started to play like that. And, Harry "Candy" Kane is one of my least favorite players, because that's a large part of what he does.
I don't think so. Most allegiances are familial or geographical. I'm a Giants/Sharks/49ers/Quakes fan because I was raised in the Bay Area. I'm an Arizona fan because I'm an alumnus. I'm a USMNT fan because I'm American. But, I'm an Arsenal fan because they were the default team on FIFA, and I played with my brother for years, with him being Tottenham because they were rivals and close in terms of talent. Now we're fans of Arsenal/Tottenham respectively so we can make fun of each other. See? Weird.
Croatia. But they were always my second team. I'm a Croatian-American, and I've seen about as many Croatia matches in person as I have US matches. And last year was obviously a zenith that they won't be able to hope to replicate for another 20 years, most likely.
That's exactly how I became an Arsenal fan. I watched them play a lot in the early days of FSW, in the early days of the Wenger era. They were just growing into the team that would become (for a brief time) the best team in England, a team to rival the stodgier, more traditional, richer Man U, and that was fun to watch. It's how I became absorbed for a while into English football. But it also is probably the least of my sports loyalties. I don't live and die for Arsenal. And I gradually fell out of love for English football in general around the time that the rest of the soccer fans in this country started to jump on that bandwagon. Not because they were jumping on the bandwagon, but because during that time it lost a lot of its uniqueness, and really, it's nothing particularly special. They're a big 4 league with a fast and slightly hacky play style, and that's that, just the one of the top 4 leagues that happens to be in an English-speaking country.
No. Also, Feyenoord was my first favorite soccer team. The Dutch league was the 1st league (that I could find) whose matches were broadcast in the U.S. At that time Feyenoord was a really good team, with De Gooey, Reggie Blinka, Kiprich, and one of my all time favorite players, Henrik Larsson. We're going to be in Amsterdam in December. It's a very long shot that I might try to head over and catch a Feyenoord match if they're in town.
Japan and south korea. Because that is where we dos a ceroed them. I actually try to root fir japan because their fans are so damn coordinated and loud. Its just a pitty that they play so impotently though.
Lol basically. I do, however, have a long list of teams i dislike. Basically any team playing with the colors of mexico. In a pavlof dog sort of way.
I was born in Poland and am full blooded Polish, so they're my second favorite team. I also have a soft spot for Canada, largely due to MLS. I kinda like The Dutch too, simply because orange is my favorite color and I bet a bit of money on them in 2010 and fell for them during that tournament run.