There hasn’t been a post-World Cup soccer fatigue for fans in the U.S.
Both MLS and international preseason tours are reaping the benefit at the turnstile after the World Cup’s record-breaking TV and social media ratings in the U.S., sparked by the national team’s performance in Brazil.
A record crowd of 109,318 watched Manchester United defeat Real Madrid 3-1 on Saturday at “The Big House,” Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich. It was the largest crowd ever to watch a soccer game in the United States.
The game was part of the International Champions Cup, which is really just a glorified preseason tour/marketing opportunity in the U.S. for eight powerful and historic European clubs, playing a dressed-up tournament.
The final between longtime English rivals Liverpool and Manchester United is to be played Monday night in Miami.
To draw that many fans in Ann Arbor proved once again that America likes its soccer. The average attendance at the 12 International Cup games has been a healthy 49,181.
At the same time, from the World Cup final through Saturday, MLS average attendance per game has increased from a pre-finals average of 18,486 fans to 19,504.
Real photo?: Speaking of the record-breaking game, it seems that Manchester United fans outnumbered their Spanish counterparts on Saturday.
That didn't set so well with Madrid, which used technology to "fix" the problem in news photos by taking most of the red shirts in the crowd and turning them white with a little photo-editing software.
Cameron's plight: Remember Bob Bradley's take on the trouble that American players have breaking through with European clubs, that they have to fight harder for respect?
The first poster child for this issue was Clint Dempsey, who kept producing but was also kept on the bench at Fulham until he finally became a fixture in the starting lineup.
The next example has become Geoff Cameron, who faced this same issue with his club and the U.S. national team, and is now going through it again at Stoke City.
The Potters just brought in a player who also plays right back, the position that Cameron has held down at Stoke for two years.
Keep in mind that Cameron isn’t a natural right back. He’s a center back and center midfielder, but earned his way onto the field at right back and has played well. Stoke earned the most points in club history last year.
As that has transpired, U.S. manager Jurgen Klinsmann, who has begged his players to go to Europe to compete against the world’s best at the club level, still doesn’t want to give credit to Cameron by playing him at right back for the national team, even before Fabian Johnson took the spot.
Klinsmann instead has consistently hedged against playing Cameron on the right or in the middle, moving him around instead to different positions. The one field player who has consistently proven himself in what’s considered the world’s toughest league still isn’t considered an automatic in the starting lineup.
It seems that Cameron is up for sale and there are several clubs interested. But will his position saga start all over again?
Jones to MSL?: Another American is making news but for odd reasons.
Jermaine Jones wants to play in MLS and has been saying so since before the World Cup.
Chicago has reportedly made him an offer of $6 million over 2 1/2 years, which would make him one of the highest-paid players in the league. Not bad for a guy who doesn’t score a lot of goals.
Jones reportedly turned down the offer, but Chicago said it hasn’t heard from him. Jones used Twitter to say the reported salary figure isn’t true. So money, as it always is, seems to be the sticking point.
The Fire need a player like Jones to draw crowds. Not only are they stuck in the standings with just 22 points, largely because of a league-high 13 draws. But their turnstiles also seem to be stuck: they are averaging 15,337 fans. That's not a bad mark, but for a city the size of Chicago, it seems relatively small.
Silverbacks update: The Silverbacks continued their solid play in the second half of the NASL season with a 4-2 win at Indianapolis on Saturday. Atlanta is now in third place in the Fall standings as it tries to fight its way into the playoffs.
The Silverbacks will host the New York Cosmos, which defeated them in the Soccer Bowl last year, on Saturday.
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