Matches in England are bad Business for the United States National Team
The United States men’s national soccer team has announced an addition to its November friendlies schedule. Five days prior to the squad’s match in Ireland against the home Irish, the United States will take on Colombia. The same Colombian side that is currently ranked as third in FIFA’s world rankings. The match however, will not be on home soil, it will take place in England. English Championship club Fulham FC will play host, with the match in London at Craven Cottage.
Former United States National team members Carlos Bocanegra, Kasey Keller, Eddie Johnson, Brian McBride and Clint Dempsey have all spent time At Fulham over the years. The result is the United States Soccer Federation calling Craven Cottage the United States’ “home away from home.” Though many Americans have spent time at the club over the years, calling a stadium outside the country our “home away from home” is outrageous and disrespectful.
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Making that statement about any stadium, city or state outside this country is grounds for treason against United States soccer. England is a country which has looked down on the United States in terms of soccer, and has constantly criticized Major League Soccer on format and quality. The English Fans have expressed their disgust at United States Supporters for lack of originality, claiming that United States fans are simple and uneducated.
How can any American soccer fan refer to a stadium in London — England’s Capital — as the United States’ “home away from home”? Quite possibly, this one decision by the United States soccer team could set the country back years.
Choosing to host an international friendly in another country — let alone England — is a slap in the supporter’s faces. The same supporters who have helped take the game to new-found heights over the last 20 years. The supporters that the United States Soccer Federation are disrespecting are the same ones who made the 1994 World Cup the highest attended in World Cup History.
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Choosing to have a match in England, in front of the same people who constantly degrade the game in the United States, is a ludicrous decision. Stadiums which the National team could easily sell-out against such a highly ranked nation like Columbia will remain empty, while the United States plays abroad in front of a handful of their supporters. Instead of thousands of singing fans, there will only be the murmur of the couple hundred who can afford the trip to England for the friendly.
Not only is the match site not smart for the growth of the game in the United States, the decision to play the game in England is downright disrespectful to the supporters of the game here. Choosing any country, let alone England, over your own is treason of the highest order. The match is set, but those who made the decision will have to deal with the consequences of the choices they made, now and in the future.
With limited international dates, the United States should be playing as many home matches as possible to help grow the game. Outsourcing a home match disrespects this country’s supporters in a truly appalling way. The supporters of the United States will always be there for the country, but they will never support those who choose other countries over their own.