WEBVTT - The Game We Love 0:00:17.160 --> 0:00:21.520 I love the sounds, the constant buzzing from the stadium, 0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:25.959 the melodic yet off key chanting from the fans, the whistles, 0:00:26.200 --> 0:00:29.760 the rhythmic cadence of announcers calling the place. I feel 0:00:29.760 --> 0:00:33.760 at home with this in the background. Add to that Lavodana. 0:00:34.320 --> 0:00:36.879 I love to see a table with spicy snacks and 0:00:36.960 --> 0:00:39.440 an extra cold beer that spent the last five minutes 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:48.760 in the freezer. Elksito Las. All of this is football 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:54.160 to me, soccer and not just any soccer. It's the 0:00:54.200 --> 0:00:59.560 World Cup. Most of my World Cup memories are tied 0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:03.280 to my If I go back to the foggy burst 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:06.399 of memories of my very early years growing up in Mexico, 0:01:07.000 --> 0:01:09.280 I can see him sitting cross legged on the carpet 0:01:09.280 --> 0:01:12.160 close to the boxy TV, the sound of a soccer 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:14.479 match in the background, and the smell of his cigarette. 0:01:15.000 --> 0:01:18.360 It was the eighties, okay. After my parents split, my 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:21.440 dad moved to the United States to Arizona. My little 0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:23.480 sister and I would visit, and in the summer of 0:01:23.560 --> 0:01:27.040 nineteen ninety eight, I remember watching France win the final 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:30.920 with Sinnadin Sedan, hearing my dad say his name just 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:40.920 like that. By the last World Cup In twenty twenty two, 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:43.479 I was living in Arizona with a child of my own, 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:47.760 a toddler. I dressed her up in this cute bootleg 0:01:47.840 --> 0:01:50.680 Mexico jerseys so we could match. I taught her how 0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:57.680 to cheer for Mexico. She was into it. I remember 0:01:57.760 --> 0:02:00.520 my dad letting out one of his squinty Eyeland laughs 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:05.640 when he watched his granddaughter in uneven picktails, copying us. 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:08.520 My dad always a sports guy through and through a 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:12.480 sports watcher, I should say, I'm talking ESPN and Univision 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:16.400 de Portes, always on TV, knowing all the stats, the 0:02:16.480 --> 0:02:19.640 rankings of tennis players, how the top golfers were trained, 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:22.800 which baseball team would win it all, and of course 0:02:23.360 --> 0:02:27.959 all things soccer, from small leagues to the national teams. 0:02:28.960 --> 0:02:34.320 I am not that at all, but I kind of 0:02:34.320 --> 0:02:36.639 go nuts every four years when the FIFA Men's World 0:02:36.720 --> 0:02:40.480 Cup erups. I yell at the TV like a backseat coach. 0:02:40.639 --> 0:02:44.320 I make side comments about the hot players. I constantly 0:02:44.320 --> 0:02:47.120 get up, I pace a little, I get real close 0:02:47.160 --> 0:02:52.880 to the screen during peak moments. My dad much quieter, 0:02:53.560 --> 0:02:58.480 with some yais here and there and single collapse for 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:01.560 at least ninety minutes in a game, the steaks feel 0:03:01.760 --> 0:03:07.120 so damn high. I love the drama under this dull 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:11.800 roar from the stadium coming through the screen, and those sounds. 0:03:12.720 --> 0:03:16.280 If I close my eyes I can hear them. Up 0:03:16.360 --> 0:03:19.600 until now, they've given me a sense of home, of fun, 0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:23.560 of spending time with my dad. But if I'm really honest, 0:03:24.240 --> 0:03:26.560 I feel uneasy about what they might bring up this summer. 0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:29.519 This will be the first time I'm going to hear 0:03:29.560 --> 0:03:34.280 those sounds without my dad. His void of canyon proportions 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:37.400 hits me as I prepare to watch the first World 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:41.280 Cup since his passing. Will it make me miss him more, 0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:48.000 feel his presence closer? I have no idea. What I 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:51.400 do know is that for so many of us, the 0:03:51.520 --> 0:03:54.600 World Cup in soccer in general, is tied to the 0:03:54.640 --> 0:03:57.440 beautiful and sometimes bittersweet memories of home. 0:03:58.160 --> 0:04:01.160 To me, for what means family, I think my first 0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:05.360 soccer game I went to I was still my mom's womb. 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:08.320 I love watching them with my mom and my sister. 0:04:08.600 --> 0:04:11.120 It probably my little circles together in Louis. 0:04:11.360 --> 0:04:13.360 I like paging it with my dash. 0:04:13.960 --> 0:04:16.960 I'm a grandpa now, so I'm getting them into good 0:04:17.000 --> 0:04:18.799 training them now that's. 0:04:18.640 --> 0:04:20.040 A little of what we heard when we took our 0:04:20.080 --> 0:04:23.040 mix to the street. And see, when you're a soccer 0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:26.839 lover here in the United States, many times that connection 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:30.279 is also to another country, like it was for me 0:04:30.320 --> 0:04:33.560 and my dad. We weren't in Mexico with other family 0:04:33.560 --> 0:04:36.080 members when the games were on, but we put on 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:38.279 our green jerseys and try to make it feel like 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:41.320 it because this is a place made up of immigrants, 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:44.960 and so many times soccer is that tied to our roots, 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:46.000 to our homelands. 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:48.560 As I grew up back in Lobanon, it was the 0:04:48.560 --> 0:04:49.640 center of everything. 0:04:49.720 --> 0:04:53.000 I'm from Colombia and I feel like it's part of 0:04:53.040 --> 0:04:54.920 my culture and growing up. 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:58.799 I've grew up in Morocco watching soccer and it's beautiful. 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:01.600 When I say soccer, I mean for nobody gets that confused. 0:05:02.200 --> 0:05:04.960 And it's also our connection to people from other places 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:07.320 in the world, whether it's playing a game of pickup 0:05:07.320 --> 0:05:10.840 soccer or watching a match, it's a connecting force. 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:14.640 Being able to learn about let's say, Cameroonians, you know, 0:05:14.800 --> 0:05:19.760 Nigerians playing with Iraqi's, Afghani's and I'm not Goudoria my friends. 0:05:19.760 --> 0:05:21.920 Being Brazilian is my friend being Colombia and my friend, 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:23.359 like everybody just collapsed. 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:25.440 We all come together and we watch the same thing, 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:27.560 which is football. 0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:33.000 I think Pele, the Brazilian soccer Idol has said it 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:36.640 best football is the beautiful game. 0:05:36.920 --> 0:05:40.720 The joo is soccer, soccer. 0:05:42.000 --> 0:05:48.880 El juego bonito, the beautiful game that is soccer. And 0:05:48.960 --> 0:05:52.440 this summer, the best male players in the world will 0:05:52.480 --> 0:05:55.640 be entertaining us from the biggest stage at the FIFA 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:59.719 Men's World Cup. I'll be wearing the Mexico jersey, of course, 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:02.360 but as I have in the past, I'm also going 0:06:02.400 --> 0:06:06.520 to root for my other favorites if my Mexico is 0:06:06.560 --> 0:06:09.919 out last World Cup. I went to the mall to 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:13.360 buy an Argentinian jersey at child's large was actually cheaper, 0:06:13.480 --> 0:06:16.080 and since it fits, I went with that. I mean, 0:06:16.160 --> 0:06:19.000 how could I not root for MESSI back then, come on, 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:24.559 but I also love an underdog, and we get plenty 0:06:24.640 --> 0:06:27.840 of that in this World Championship. Every four years we 0:06:27.960 --> 0:06:31.000 watch as tiny countries can go toe to toe with 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:36.560 economic superpowers. Uruguay has consistently punched above its weight, even 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:38.640 though it has a population the size of the state 0:06:38.680 --> 0:06:42.640 of Iowa. In twenty eighteen, I remember rooting for Croatia 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:46.160 when they won the semi final. Their small framed superstar 0:06:46.240 --> 0:06:53.800 Modric had me googling facts about the Slavic countries. The 0:06:54.000 --> 0:07:00.520 second Scholar Station History top final. That same year, Senegal, 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:03.280 a relatively poor nation, made it to the World Cup, 0:07:03.480 --> 0:07:06.400 while the US didn't. Cl only the third African saint 0:07:06.440 --> 0:07:08.599 who have reached the quarter finals of a World Cup 0:07:08.680 --> 0:07:11.480 Cameroon in nineteen ninety gone or in twenty ten. With 0:07:11.520 --> 0:07:15.720 the others, and even the US team itself is an underdog. 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:18.240 It's like the one thing that the US is a 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:20.720 true underdog at, which is part of the fun of 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:24.280 rooting for them. Getting to watch these teams compete every 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:27.640 four years, the giants, the little guys, and those in between. 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:32.200 It provides an escape from an increasingly tumultuous world. For 0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:33.800 me and for many of you. 0:07:34.440 --> 0:07:37.440 Why do I watch the World Cup? That's like asking 0:07:37.480 --> 0:07:38.600 me why do I breed? 0:07:40.080 --> 0:07:42.080 Soccer means fun? 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:45.480 I just love the spirit behind it. The guys are 0:07:45.560 --> 0:07:47.000 young and cute and fat. 0:07:47.360 --> 0:07:52.960 I learn about celebrations, learn about players, memes, songs from 0:07:52.960 --> 0:07:58.680 the crowd, and listen. I'm not blind to the many, many, 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:02.760 many flaws behind this whole event, the politics, the corruption, 0:08:03.160 --> 0:08:08.760 the human rights violations, the insanely expensive tickets, the scams, 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:12.320 all the things happening outside of the field. I'm not 0:08:12.360 --> 0:08:15.760 discounting any of that. But once the whistle blows and 0:08:15.800 --> 0:08:19.320 the game starts, none of that can stop me from 0:08:19.440 --> 0:08:22.840 loving what's at the core of the World Cup, the heart, 0:08:23.520 --> 0:08:27.840 the passion for rooting for your team, the soccer. Of 0:08:27.920 --> 0:08:33.040 all the unimportant things, football is the most important. A 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:35.840 version of this quote has been attributed to everyone from 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:39.000 Pope John Paul the Second to soccer players and coaches, 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:42.160 but the sentiment is the same regardless of who says it. 0:08:43.120 --> 0:08:47.959 This thing we love is important simply because we love it. 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:57.440 From Futuro Studios, I'm Fernande Chavarri and this is American Football, 0:08:58.040 --> 0:09:00.719 a show about soccer culture in the US and it's 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:14.320 under dog roots. The Men's World Cup is coming to 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:17.679 our continent and to this country, so we're using this 0:09:17.760 --> 0:09:20.800 huge event to dive deep into what soccer means in 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:23.800 the United States. We look into its history as an 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:27.679 immigrant sport and the details are surprising. It is an 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:31.560 American game. The Brazilians don't like hearing that, though we 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:34.720 talk to players, the women and men who've been fighting 0:09:34.760 --> 0:09:37.280 to bring you as soccer into the limelight. We were 0:09:37.320 --> 0:09:40.719 tied zero zero with Brazil in the second round and 0:09:40.880 --> 0:09:43.920 I took an elbow to my head which cracked my skull. 0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:46.920 We'll hear from immigrants all across the country for whom 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:51.079 soccer is a touchstone, but who've also women the sport 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:55.280 into American culture and life. And of course we're also 0:09:55.320 --> 0:09:58.079 going to talk big cultural moments of this twenty twenty 0:09:58.120 --> 0:10:02.319 six World Cup, the surprise, the fans, the songs, the memes, 0:10:02.720 --> 0:10:06.400 the beautiful game. But first we're going to start with 0:10:06.400 --> 0:10:09.240 a little history. We're going back to the nineties, to 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:11.640 the very first time that the World Cup came to 0:10:11.679 --> 0:10:15.600 the United States. There was Oprah, there was oj and 0:10:15.720 --> 0:10:38.280 it changed soccer here forever. We'll be right back. This 0:10:38.360 --> 0:10:43.040 is American football. I'm Fernande Chavarri. This summer will be 0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:45.760 the second time the United States gets to host a 0:10:45.760 --> 0:10:48.719 World Cup, so it's worth talking about the first time 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:52.400 that happened to understand just how far the US has come. 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:56.200 Back in the late eighties, the US didn't even have 0:10:56.280 --> 0:10:59.679 a soccer league, so it's wild that in the summer 0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:03.200 of nineteen eighty eight, FIFA, the governing body of soccer, 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:06.920 announced that the nineteen ninety four World Cup would be 0:11:07.000 --> 0:11:10.680 hosted in the United States, a country where soccer wasn't 0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:13.440 really that big at the time. I mean it makes 0:11:13.520 --> 0:11:16.640 sense that the reaction from the world of soccer was 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:18.920 shall we say mixed. 0:11:19.600 --> 0:11:22.600 I think opinion was divided. I think some people saw 0:11:22.679 --> 0:11:26.440 this as this is the next frontier. There's clearly tremendous 0:11:26.440 --> 0:11:30.320 marketing opportunities, revenues to be derived from this, and that really, 0:11:30.320 --> 0:11:32.320 if we are to be the global sport, we need 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:34.800 the US on board. But equally there were people who 0:11:34.920 --> 0:11:37.240 were thinking, well, what are they going to do to it? 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:40.800 This is Jonathan Wilson. Jonathan is a columnist for The 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:43.079 Guardian and an all around soccer expert. 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:46.800 I'm a football historian. I've written thirteen books of football history, 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:49.360 including The Parent of Glory, A History of the World Cup. 0:11:49.720 --> 0:11:52.200 He grew up in Sunderland, a shipbuilding town in the 0:11:52.240 --> 0:11:55.640 northeast of England, and like everyone else he knew, Jonathan 0:11:55.760 --> 0:11:58.480 was obsessed with soccer from a very young age. 0:11:58.760 --> 0:12:01.679 Yeah, went in my first game October eighty two when 0:12:01.720 --> 0:12:04.079 I was six so that's first World Cup. I remember, 0:12:04.480 --> 0:12:08.719 so I turned six during that tournament, and you'd say, 0:12:08.760 --> 0:12:11.160 that's one of the real formative experiences of my life. 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:18.040 This recognition of football is this vehicle for accessing the world. 0:12:17.679 --> 0:12:20.240 Or at least a good chunk of the world. Because 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:23.040 back in the eighties and early nineties, the US really 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:26.720 wasn't part of that global family of soccer players and lovers. 0:12:27.000 --> 0:12:29.840 It had n't competed in the World Cup since the fifties, 0:12:30.559 --> 0:12:33.040 and the country had tried and failed to build a 0:12:33.080 --> 0:12:37.440 successful national soccer league. This was the country fef I 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:40.960 wanted for the World Cup. People were worried that the 0:12:41.120 --> 0:12:43.960 US would sort of ruin the game for everyone else. 0:12:44.240 --> 0:12:46.240 I mean, I remember, there was all these rumors and 0:12:46.360 --> 0:12:48.679 you never quite knew how seriously to take them, that, Oh, 0:12:48.840 --> 0:12:50.120 it's not gonna be two half, it's gonna be four 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:51.760 quarters because they have to fit in the ad breaks. 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:54.160 Oh my god, can you imagine a soccer game with 0:12:54.200 --> 0:12:57.600 ad breaks every ten minutes? And that criticism wasn't just 0:12:57.640 --> 0:13:01.920 happening outside of the country. Tom Weir, a columnist for 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:05.679 USA Today, wrote at the time, quote, Hating soccer is 0:13:05.720 --> 0:13:08.960 more American than apple pie, driving a pickup or spending 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:13.240 Saturday afternoon's channel surfing with the remote control end quote. 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:16.640 And I think to an extent, it's understandable that if 0:13:16.679 --> 0:13:19.200 you're a fan of American football or basketball, or baseball 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:21.440 or ice hockey, you don't want this other sport coming 0:13:21.440 --> 0:13:25.040 in and stealing your market share. Of course you're going 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:25.880 to be opposed to it. 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:31.080 So what is happening in the US. Is there an 0:13:31.160 --> 0:13:34.520 effort or a push to get more buy in from 0:13:34.520 --> 0:13:37.120 the public before the World Cup? How does the US 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:40.680 sort of make soccer be more exciting for people? 0:13:41.400 --> 0:13:43.640 There was, but what they did wasn't to try and 0:13:43.679 --> 0:13:46.280 sell the game. They were selling the event, and I 0:13:46.280 --> 0:13:48.200 think that was exactly the right thing to do. They say, look, 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:51.400 this is this enormous world event. I mean, we've seen 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:53.400 Johnny and Patina at this time saying this is one 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:54.680 hundred and four Super Bowls. 0:13:55.040 --> 0:13:56.960 One hundred and four Super Bowls. 0:13:57.120 --> 0:13:59.160 I mean, that wasn't language used then, but it was similar. 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:02.199 This is this enormous global event is coming to your country. 0:14:02.720 --> 0:14:04.480 Go and watch it, even if you're interested in soccer, 0:14:04.559 --> 0:14:07.240 go and watch the fans, go and watch the sort 0:14:07.280 --> 0:14:08.520 of the passion of other people. 0:14:09.240 --> 0:14:11.800 So maybe people here were still on the fence about 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:16.720 soccer as a sport but an event a show. Now 0:14:16.960 --> 0:14:21.600 that is US of a up Until then, Jonathan says, 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:24.800 World Cup opening ceremonies were kind of not so. 0:14:25.120 --> 0:14:29.360 Flashy this summing endearing the amateurship at quite a lot 0:14:29.360 --> 0:14:32.040 of it is this sort of school sports day atmosphere 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:32.280 to it. 0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:35.440 So the US said, call my beer, We're going to 0:14:35.480 --> 0:14:39.800 turn this into up production and listen, you can't make 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:43.080 this up. That day, the day of the opening ceremony, 0:14:43.440 --> 0:14:47.960 June seventeenth, nineteen ninety four, will also go down in 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:51.400 history as one of the juiciest moments of the nineties 0:14:51.440 --> 0:14:52.040 in the US. 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:55.120 For something else, that's the day of BOJ Simpson car 0:14:55.200 --> 0:14:56.680 chase through Los Angeles. 0:14:56.880 --> 0:14:59.960 The vehicle is registered to Al Kling, a former teammate, 0:15:00.360 --> 0:15:03.760 close friend of Oj Simpsons who has been a fugitive 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:06.480 from justice. Now almost twelve hours. 0:15:07.040 --> 0:15:09.240 The other day, I was watching a documentary called Soccer 0:15:09.280 --> 0:15:12.640 Town USA, and the players were talking about how they 0:15:12.680 --> 0:15:16.280 were literally distracted by the ojchase that night when they 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:17.840 should have been trying to get in the zone. 0:15:18.040 --> 0:15:23.080 I'm hearing the TV in the crowd on second, Yo, toes, 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:24.320 what are you doing? 0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:27.400 I couldn't believe this was happening, and he kept yelling 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:29.360 at me, and we got a World Cup game. And 0:15:29.400 --> 0:15:30.720 it's early tomorrow. 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:34.360 Sorry, it's an absurd day of Americana. 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:39.840 The opening ceremonies are underway. Let's go now to Soldier Field. 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:43.960 It's a sweltering afternoon at Soldier Field, the largest sports 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:47.680 stadium in Chicago, packed to the gills, more than sixty 0:15:47.840 --> 0:15:51.640 thousand spectators on the stands and millions more watching at home. 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:55.880 The MC of the event none other than Oprah the 0:15:56.360 --> 0:16:17.120 mt SA. Diana Ross sachets into the field in a 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:22.280 bright red ninety suit, her hair flowing. She's surrounded by 0:16:22.360 --> 0:16:25.280 hundreds of dancers dressed in white, who part like the 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:28.640 Red Sea. As she sprints down the middle towards the goalkeeper, 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:32.120 there's a soccer ball waiting for her. All she has 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:34.600 to do is kick it into the goal. 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:38.560 And the idea is she kicks a ball into this skull, 0:16:38.640 --> 0:16:41.800 which then will split open and not introduced the next 0:16:41.840 --> 0:16:43.480 phase of the happening so only, but. 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:47.560 Instead of that triumphant moment, Diana Ross hedges and then 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:51.520 kicks the ball way to the left missing the goal completely. 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:55.560 Sure that was supposed to happen, and okay, yeah, she's 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:58.720 not a professional athlete. I think she just sort of poked. 0:16:58.720 --> 0:17:00.000 It would have been fine, but she takes a cue 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:02.920 swing at it and sort of drags it wide. The 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:05.480 goal still split. Outhing goes off, but it just looks fascical. 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:07.840 I mean, I think Oprah fell off the stage and 0:17:07.920 --> 0:17:09.119 damaged your ankle as well. 0:17:09.600 --> 0:17:11.080 That wasn't on camera, so. 0:17:11.000 --> 0:17:14.080 It's sort of shambolic. It's ill omened. It's very funny 0:17:14.119 --> 0:17:16.320 for those of us watching on. And then the game itself, 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:18.520 the first game of the World Cup, which is Germany 0:17:18.520 --> 0:17:21.320 against Bolivia, is a terrible, terrible game. 0:17:21.760 --> 0:17:25.600 Germany floundered but ultimately beat Bolivia one nil. It wasn't 0:17:25.600 --> 0:17:31.920 the best display of skilly bun. 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:36.679 I'm watching it now thinking, God, I wish I'd been 0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:38.240 there to write about it. This would have been such 0:17:38.280 --> 0:17:40.120 an easy, funny piece to write. 0:17:40.320 --> 0:17:43.680 But this embarrassing star didn't actually doom the whole tournament. 0:17:44.280 --> 0:17:46.000 For one, it had record attendance. 0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:48.520 The highest average attendance of any World Cup was in 0:17:48.600 --> 0:17:50.920 nineteen ninety four. Oh wow, Because the US has the 0:17:50.960 --> 0:17:54.320 normal stadiums, I think probably there's a lot of immigrant 0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:56.760 communities who were going to games. There was a lot 0:17:56.800 --> 0:17:59.800 of traveling support. But you know, ordinary Americans who had 0:17:59.800 --> 0:18:02.800 not previously watched soccer were clearly going because they wanted 0:18:02.800 --> 0:18:03.600 to witness the event. 0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:07.000 But how did it end overall? Was it a good 0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:10.000 World Cup? And what would make it a good World 0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:10.720 Cup if it was? 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:13.119 I mean, that's what makes a good World Cup is 0:18:13.160 --> 0:18:16.160 a great question, And I think it's only partly about 0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:18.920 the quality football played. I think it's more about the storylines. 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:23.000 It's about the storylines. And the nineteen ninety four World 0:18:23.000 --> 0:18:26.520 Cup here in the US also had some good drama. 0:18:27.240 --> 0:18:30.680 Argentinian superstar Diego Maradona had just returned from a drug 0:18:30.720 --> 0:18:31.960 band to play that tournament. 0:18:32.600 --> 0:18:35.239 Then the second game is against Nigeria, he's taken off 0:18:35.240 --> 0:18:36.200 of the random drugs test. 0:18:36.240 --> 0:18:38.720 At the end, once the game was over, a nurse 0:18:38.760 --> 0:18:41.520 walked into the field and escorted Maradona out to get 0:18:41.520 --> 0:18:42.280 a doping test. 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:46.240 And it's a really heient image. They walk off hand 0:18:46.240 --> 0:18:49.200 in hand and she's wearing this sort of white uniform 0:18:49.240 --> 0:18:52.040 with sort of green crosses on it, and of course 0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:55.119 he fails to drugs test. Bulls the analysis of the 0:18:55.400 --> 0:18:59.119 urine sample have proved it to be positive, and he 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:00.880 never plays vargentaintum again. 0:19:01.440 --> 0:19:04.520 Another example of the drama of this World Cup was 0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:08.440 the tragic victory of the US over Colombia after Colombian 0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:12.600 defender and Risiscobard kicked the ball into his own team's. 0:19:12.320 --> 0:19:19.480 Netted dr own girl the USA that's the school ascoball 0:19:20.640 --> 0:19:26.000 on the own goal and the United States breaks Columbia. 0:19:26.080 --> 0:19:29.480 Shortly after he returned to Colombia, he was shot to death, 0:19:31.440 --> 0:19:34.159 and there's still dispute over whether it was really about 0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:37.640 this mistake. But there were moments of triumph as well. 0:19:39.280 --> 0:19:42.680 Nigeria played their first ever World Cup and even though 0:19:42.720 --> 0:19:45.560 they didn't make it far, Jonathan says it was a 0:19:45.600 --> 0:19:46.360 debut to. 0:19:46.400 --> 0:19:47.840 Remember the. 0:19:55.480 --> 0:19:58.879 First goal that Rashita Buchini scores against Bulgaria and the 0:19:58.920 --> 0:20:02.000 group and his celebrations sort of yeah, clutching the net 0:20:02.040 --> 0:20:05.000 to its face one of the great iconic celebrations. And 0:20:05.040 --> 0:20:07.040 that was a great Nigeria team to wash and they 0:20:07.080 --> 0:20:08.720 went on to win the Olympic gold two years later. 0:20:09.440 --> 0:20:11.240 So there was loads of great stories. There was loads 0:20:11.280 --> 0:20:13.880 of great football played the beginning and the end weren't great, 0:20:14.040 --> 0:20:15.159 but the stuff in between. 0:20:15.000 --> 0:20:18.560 Was really good. That's my thing right there, the stories, 0:20:18.600 --> 0:20:22.960 the drama, the in between. I love hearing Jonathan say 0:20:23.000 --> 0:20:26.080 that that's what makes a World Cup great, and it 0:20:26.119 --> 0:20:29.440 makes me wonder what the story of this Summer's World 0:20:29.480 --> 0:20:53.600 Cup will be more after the break. This is American football. 0:20:54.000 --> 0:20:58.160 I'm Fernande Charity. By and large, the nineteen ninety four 0:20:58.200 --> 0:21:00.720 World Cup is credited with bringing back soccer to the 0:21:00.800 --> 0:21:05.000 United States. Two years after the tournament, in nineteen ninety six, 0:21:05.440 --> 0:21:09.320 the US gave birth to Major League Soccer. Obviously, we 0:21:09.440 --> 0:21:12.840 know that the US women's team has the most wins 0:21:13.040 --> 0:21:15.520 since the Women's World Cup started in nineteen ninety one. 0:21:16.040 --> 0:21:17.280 They are the winning team. 0:21:17.760 --> 0:21:20.760 The goal, the woman they fed most of the air, 0:21:21.240 --> 0:21:23.800 has given the USA the league. 0:21:24.600 --> 0:21:27.160 And this year, with the World Cup at home the men, 0:21:27.640 --> 0:21:30.200 they'll have another chance to prove themselves on their home 0:21:30.240 --> 0:21:33.480 turf and the home audience is watching. 0:21:33.800 --> 0:21:36.600 The reason that we're decked out in this red, white 0:21:36.600 --> 0:21:39.320 and blue reppin for USA is for this reason. The 0:21:39.400 --> 0:21:43.720 exclusive reveal of the twenty twenty six US Soccer World 0:21:43.720 --> 0:21:44.480 Cup uniform. 0:21:44.640 --> 0:21:47.919 Here. They are the most watched, the most followed event 0:21:48.280 --> 0:21:51.399 worldwide is going to be played here in the US, 0:21:51.640 --> 0:21:55.920 in Mexico and Canada, and this tournament is already primed 0:21:55.920 --> 0:21:59.560 for good stories. There's so many countries who fought so 0:21:59.800 --> 0:22:03.960 hot to get here, like Kati, deep in a humanitarian crisis, 0:22:04.080 --> 0:22:08.200 with security at an all time low, gangs ruled the country, 0:22:08.240 --> 0:22:11.959 and yet they qualified to play this year, making an 0:22:11.960 --> 0:22:16.480 appearance for the first time since nineteen seventy four. Iraq 0:22:16.680 --> 0:22:19.960 is also competing for the first time in forty years. 0:22:20.160 --> 0:22:23.280 There's going to be eight Arab nations playing, a record 0:22:24.280 --> 0:22:27.160 Ivery Coast and Senegal are set to compete, even though 0:22:27.200 --> 0:22:30.000 the US government put a visa ban on both of 0:22:30.040 --> 0:22:34.520 those countries. These stories also make it impossible to deny 0:22:34.640 --> 0:22:37.080 that the World Cup is coming back to a very 0:22:37.119 --> 0:22:39.359 different United States thirty two years later. 0:22:39.920 --> 0:22:43.959 I think this is a World Cup that people are 0:22:43.960 --> 0:22:47.040 approaching in trepidation because we don't know what's going to 0:22:47.040 --> 0:22:50.199 happen with Iran. It's the twenty third World Cup, the 0:22:50.240 --> 0:22:54.120 previous twenty two. The attitude of the House has always been, 0:22:54.840 --> 0:22:57.399 please come to our country, look at how gred it is, 0:22:57.400 --> 0:23:00.439 and go home. Tell everybody, by and large, that has 0:23:00.480 --> 0:23:02.920 been the attitude of hosts. You look back, even Mussolani 0:23:02.960 --> 0:23:06.480 in nineteen thirty four subsidized travel for foreign fans because 0:23:06.480 --> 0:23:09.199 you wanted people to come and see his Italy and 0:23:09.240 --> 0:23:12.879 how efficient and beautiful and effective it was. 0:23:13.840 --> 0:23:17.560 That's not the case today. The US is overly hostile 0:23:17.600 --> 0:23:18.280 to foreigners. 0:23:18.520 --> 0:23:21.439 Well, four qualified nations on the visa band lists, others 0:23:21.440 --> 0:23:24.520 on a soft block list. It's going to be a 0:23:24.520 --> 0:23:26.400 difficult tournament from that point of view, in a way 0:23:26.400 --> 0:23:27.440 that other tournaments haven't been. 0:23:28.600 --> 0:23:31.080 All of this will most likely become part of this 0:23:31.200 --> 0:23:37.760 World Cup story, visa bands, ice, raids, war. Still, none 0:23:37.800 --> 0:23:40.760 of that can take away from how deeply diverse of 0:23:40.760 --> 0:23:44.199 a country we are, and that diversity will be on 0:23:44.240 --> 0:23:47.879 display at this World Cup. As Americans wave they are 0:23:48.000 --> 0:23:52.680 many flags even before planes arrived from abroad. There will 0:23:52.720 --> 0:23:55.080 be a base of fans from all over the world 0:23:55.280 --> 0:23:58.879 ready to cheer for their roots. Call me hopeful, but 0:23:59.359 --> 0:24:03.360