Ghana is almost certain to be the only African team to make the second round (barring some monumental Group G collapse after which entire mountains are swallowed up by the sea). The US stands in their way of making a deep run on behalf of all the other African nations that fell behind. Will the prospect of eliminating the last of the home continent bring neutrals to rally around Ghana? Will it have any effect on the play on the field (*cough*referee*cough*)? Will the US be cast in a bad light should they take down Ghana on Saturday?
USNT will always be the bad guys most of the World. Reason why USNT gets screwed most the times in the World Cup.
no they will be heroes. if they defeat Ghana, no African team left in the tourney, thus less vuvuzuelas for the rest of tournament.
I don't want their approval. Nor would I be surprised if everyone else played the part of supporting Anything But the US. I just want to know if they will.
I think against Ghana this will be the case since they are the only ones let representing Africa. If we win that game, I think we become the team that neutrals are rooting for. The way we've been playing, especially the heart we've shown, has turned a lot of heads around the world. Also, we've been responsible for arguably the two most exciting games of the tournament so far. I bartend part-time. Our entire kitchen staff is foreign-born, and were not rooting for the USA prior to the tournament. After the Slovenia game, all they were talking about was how exciting the USA was to watch. When I got to work last night, I got into a conversation with a cook who was saying that him and the rest of the staff (except, of course, the two Mexicans) are now rooting for the USA to get as far as possible.
To the Africans we might be villains, but to the Americans, they are heroes and that's all that matters.