Football The Beautiful Game (Soccer for my American friends)

 As the World Cup comes to a thrilling conclusion, some say it’s been the most exciting yet in the history of its existence.

Being a Brit living in New York, one of the things I feared the most was how will I be able to survive without the Premier League, as the MLS has no local team for me to follow and if I am being kind, MLS does not reach the level of Championship standards (Tier 2 Premier League) to which I am accustomed.

I live in the suburbs of Long Island so do not have the luxury of easy access to Manhattan’s many bars that attract tourists to watch games, so many times I find myself in my basement, without any mates other than my two dogs at my side, and only bottles of Stella and stale chips—those being Doritos--to keep me company.  Can’t even be bothered to buy Guinness as not on tap…no point.

All of a sudden, The World Cup arrives and America wakes up to the beautiful game-- and lo and behold-- I have people to socialize with and enjoy the sport that I have known all my life.

England played as their usual disappointing selves, --the good news was I did not have to read the ridiculous hype of the newspapers in the UK.  Interestingly, none of the sports media companies in the USA thought England would qualify from the group of former champions plus Costa Rica.

The American press was supportive of the National side.   No one around the globe gave them any chance of surviving the group of death and moving to the round of 16, but the US verve was truly amazing, as they believed in their team which was well justified as they had a group of players that would give every last drop of effort, a manager with conviction that stood alongside them, and a goalkeeper that became a national hero.

Jurgen Klinsmann was truly a world-class player, who played at the highest level.

He was offered a huge pay rise to manage in the Premier League, but wanted to finish a job he started as the USA National Team Manager.  Much respect.