Football is currently gaining popularity in America, where basketball and baseball are more popular.
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Can the host nation, the United States, win the World Cup? The United States has shown some improvement after winning its first two games of the tournament. The combined score of the two games was 6-1. After such a performance, the same question was asked to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is appearing as a football pundit on US television. His one-word answer was, ‘Can do it.’
The United States is still an ‘underdog’ in front of traditional superpowers like Spain, France and Argentina. But after defeating Australia 2-0 on Friday, America’s ambitions have suddenly increased. All the American players seem enthusiastic. Midfielder Malik Tillman says, ‘We have to win every game one after another. We are playing to win.’
He added, ‘If we are going to win the World Cup, we have to win every game in the tournament, that is the formula. That will be our goal now.’ The US faced some challenges only in the match against Paraguay, but the team managed to win 4-1 in that match. The US will now face Turkey. It is really just a ‘dead rubber’ for both teams.
The first match of the knockout stage will be difficult for the US. Because the US’s opponent in the last 32 could be Belgium or Spain. In the entire history of the World Cup, the US has won only one knockout stage match so far. This was possible in 2002. At that time, the US defeated Mexico 2-0 to make it to the last 16.
This was the best performance of the US in the modern World Cup so far. The host country is likely to win the World Cup on home soil. The most recent World Cup was in 1998. At that time, France won the tournament. In fact, six teams have won the World Cup on their home soil so far, and they have a history of playing the final at home against those teams at least three times.
Among those winners, the US is the only country where basketball and baseball are more popular than football. But now football is rapidly gaining popularity in the US. America is increasingly seen as a potential winner. One reason for this is the growing expansion of Major League Soccer in the US. This has produced talented forwards like Alex Freeman.
It may be true that the US team is currently growing a golden generation of players. Because among them, Christian Pulisic is playing for big clubs like AC Milan, West Mackenzie for Juventus and Tillman for Bayer Leverkusen. The appointment of Mauricio Pochettino as coach for US football is also a big decision. He is the one who is rebuilding the US team.
Crystal Palace centre-half Chris Richards has recently praised the former Tottenham, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) coach. He is considered an expert in motivating his players. Richards says, “Pochettino has managed big clubs and is very serious when working with us. The impact is starting to show. All of us players are now trying to successfully implement his strategy on the field.’
Pochettino has also told his players to keep one foot on the field and focus only on the game. But he also said, ‘Why can’t we just be champions?’
So Richards also believes that the United States is capable of pulling off the biggest upset in World Cup history by winning the title. He says, ‘Of course, our focus is only on the next game now. But that doesn’t mean we don’t want to win the World Cup.’
