For the second straight game, fans at the Confederations Cup booed when the “The Star-Spangled Banner” was played before the United States took the field.
The whistling sounded louder at Saturday night’s 1-0 loss to Brazil than it was before the Americans lost to Turkey 2-1 on Thursday in Saint-Etienne.
Really, they are not anti-American. They just hate George Bush, right?
JKC
Let me play Devil’s advocate: what’s the difference between booing the Stars and Stripes and Freedom Fries in the cafeteria of Congress?
Grown-ups in both governments (if there are any) need to tone down the rhetoric.
Stephen
JKC,
There’s no difference. As long as the French and Europeans get off their “Oh, we’re so superior. We don’t hate Americans. We just differ on policy.”
If they are pissed and want to act that way, I won’t complain.
But they gotta be honest about it. They can’t have it both ways.
platosearwax
I don’t know, Stephen. I think both sides want it both ways. I hear derision towards France and Europe about every 5 minutes on Fox but it’s them who have to stop feeling superior?
Brandon
Let’s back off of the political aspect of this and consider the pure soccer angle.
1) France fell hard from their 1998 World Cup.
2) The US is a rising team from their showing in 2002.
3) Nobody really wants us to become a soccer power and add that to our Olympic dominance.
Moe Lane
“3) Nobody really wants us to become a soccer power and add that to our Olympic dominance.”
Including me. I mean, we have throw the rest of the world at least -one- bone. They care about soccer, we (mostly) don’t, so I would say that making sure that we suck at it is (and should be) a legitimate national security issue.
My apologies to American soccer fans for this stance: it really is nothing personal.