MIAMI WAS NOT on the radar for tentative pre-tournament plans around being part of America’s Fourth of July celebrations.
It’s a 250th birthday that has been acknowledged by US President Donald Trump in various forms. From erecting an octagon on the South Lawn of the White House for a commemorative UFC event to a speech earlier this week in which he denounced communists and the VAR official who felt Folarin Balogun’s clumsy challenge in the USA’s win over Bosnia and Herzegovina was worthy of a red card as the enemies of their Founding Fathers.
OK, only one part of this is true. Trump, of course, hasn’t been to a World Cup game just yet and his lack of visibility is just another positive of this tournament.
A powerful photograph from the Washington metro system also went viral on Saturday as a Black woman sat alone, surrounded by a group of masked men from the Patriot Front white supremacist group. It was jarring and poignant in equal measure.
Miami may be a great place to go to party, but it felt like there were other places more suited to celebrate. That’s not to say the Hard Rock Cafe down by Bayside pier blasting out a 1pm melody of America by Neil Diamond, American Woman and Don’t Stop Believing wasn’t wholly appropriate and spectacular.
Philadelphia is The Birthplace of America, the city where the Declaration of Independence was signed 250 years ago.
There was another significant event in the city on Saturday, though. A time capsule ceremony was held by Independence Hall with the plan to re-open it in another 250 years on 4 July 2276.
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“There is something profoundly humbling about this task,” America 250′s executive vice president (a nod to the old FAI guard?) Jennifer Condon said at the event.
Included in said capsule were a diamond mined in Alaska, a series of poems from various States, a set of gambling chips, a vial of sand from New Mexico and, er, Claude AI’s prediction for what California will look like 250 years from now.
Philadelphia was also scheduled to host a last-16 game that turned out to be a distasteful encounter between Paraguay and France. Didier Deschamps’ side triumphed by a single goal, but only after the South Americans resorted to one of the most unpalatable approaches of the tournament so far.
Boston is also a city that pays tribute to Independence Day each year with a public reading of the Declaration of Independence near the site where the American Revolution unfolded.
We will be back there next week for France v Morocco.
New York, of course, is always an option because it feels like the centre of the world once you are there, not to mention the chance to be present for Joey Chestnut defending his men’s title at the Annual Fourth of July Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Competition.
First held in 1972, we were pleased to learn that Joey secured his 18th title by milling 66 hot dogs in 10 minutes to beat runner-up Patrick Bertoletti, who ate 51.
Makes you wonder what grub was served up after Taylor Swift’s Madison Square Garden wedding to Travis Kelce – the best match made in heaven at the venue since Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano did battle.
Finally, there was even a personal flirtation with a Texas road trip after potentially attending the 3 July round of 32 clash between Egypt and Australia.
A quick three-hour spin from Dallas to Austin – and by American standards that’s like getting from one end of the M50 to the other – straight after that tie would have fitted perfectly with a desire to embrace one of the country’s cultural icons: Willie Nelson.
His annual Fourth of July Picnic was taking place in an amphitheatre not far from another site embedded in the American psyche: Waco.
Sheryl Crow, Billy Strings and Margo Price were just three of acts performing. This alternative plan of action felt more credible after a brief encounter with Darren and Janette from North Carolina outside Fenway Park in Boston earlier in the tournament.
“It’s the media that wants to tell people from other countries that we’re wrong. We are still the beacon of civilisation for the whole world,” Darren said, before his wife added to his point.
“Get out of the cities into the country, get some country air and that’s where you will find America.”
“Don’t believe messages that we are oppressive people,” Darren continued. “Everyone has opportunity to come here and make it what you want to be.”
And that is just why The 42 ended up in Miami.
We had to follow the football.
There was only one story this weekend: Argentina v Cape Verde. Pico Lopes against Lionel Messi.
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It was a World Cup game for the ages, the spirit and quality on display from Pico et al resonating with people throughout the world.
They made this World Cup what they wanted it to be; a celebration of a small country and their ability to outperform expectations through collective will, an inspirational coach in Bubista, and an ability to rise to the biggest occasion of their careers.
An emotional Pico Lopes had to fight back the tears and fight the lump in his throat as he began to reflect on his journey as a professional footballer over the last decade.
His achievements are inspirational to a generation of footballers in both Cape Verde and Ireland.
There are calls for an official welcome home reception for him in Dublin – might we suggest some form of open-top bus near the Walkinstown roundabout seeing as he was born and raised around the corner and it’s where Irish football fans have tended to congregate in numbers while celebrating their own at a World Cup.
And now the story moves on, to Mexico City for England against the co-hosts in the Azteca. America may be the land of opportunity but if Thomas Tuchel’s men overcome this challenge than surely they will feel like anything is possible.
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Miami to Mexico with America 250 squeezed in: Cape Verde change everything as all eyes turn to England
MIAMI WAS NOT on the radar for tentative pre-tournament plans around being part of America’s Fourth of July celebrations.
It’s a 250th birthday that has been acknowledged by US President Donald Trump in various forms. From erecting an octagon on the South Lawn of the White House for a commemorative UFC event to a speech earlier this week in which he denounced communists and the VAR official who felt Folarin Balogun’s clumsy challenge in the USA’s win over Bosnia and Herzegovina was worthy of a red card as the enemies of their Founding Fathers.
OK, only one part of this is true. Trump, of course, hasn’t been to a World Cup game just yet and his lack of visibility is just another positive of this tournament.
A powerful photograph from the Washington metro system also went viral on Saturday as a Black woman sat alone, surrounded by a group of masked men from the Patriot Front white supremacist group. It was jarring and poignant in equal measure.
Miami may be a great place to go to party, but it felt like there were other places more suited to celebrate. That’s not to say the Hard Rock Cafe down by Bayside pier blasting out a 1pm melody of America by Neil Diamond, American Woman and Don’t Stop Believing wasn’t wholly appropriate and spectacular.
Philadelphia is The Birthplace of America, the city where the Declaration of Independence was signed 250 years ago.
There was another significant event in the city on Saturday, though. A time capsule ceremony was held by Independence Hall with the plan to re-open it in another 250 years on 4 July 2276.
“There is something profoundly humbling about this task,” America 250′s executive vice president (a nod to the old FAI guard?) Jennifer Condon said at the event.
Included in said capsule were a diamond mined in Alaska, a series of poems from various States, a set of gambling chips, a vial of sand from New Mexico and, er, Claude AI’s prediction for what California will look like 250 years from now.
Philadelphia was also scheduled to host a last-16 game that turned out to be a distasteful encounter between Paraguay and France. Didier Deschamps’ side triumphed by a single goal, but only after the South Americans resorted to one of the most unpalatable approaches of the tournament so far.
Boston is also a city that pays tribute to Independence Day each year with a public reading of the Declaration of Independence near the site where the American Revolution unfolded.
We will be back there next week for France v Morocco.
New York, of course, is always an option because it feels like the centre of the world once you are there, not to mention the chance to be present for Joey Chestnut defending his men’s title at the Annual Fourth of July Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Competition.
First held in 1972, we were pleased to learn that Joey secured his 18th title by milling 66 hot dogs in 10 minutes to beat runner-up Patrick Bertoletti, who ate 51.
Makes you wonder what grub was served up after Taylor Swift’s Madison Square Garden wedding to Travis Kelce – the best match made in heaven at the venue since Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano did battle.
Finally, there was even a personal flirtation with a Texas road trip after potentially attending the 3 July round of 32 clash between Egypt and Australia.
A quick three-hour spin from Dallas to Austin – and by American standards that’s like getting from one end of the M50 to the other – straight after that tie would have fitted perfectly with a desire to embrace one of the country’s cultural icons: Willie Nelson.
His annual Fourth of July Picnic was taking place in an amphitheatre not far from another site embedded in the American psyche: Waco.
Sheryl Crow, Billy Strings and Margo Price were just three of acts performing. This alternative plan of action felt more credible after a brief encounter with Darren and Janette from North Carolina outside Fenway Park in Boston earlier in the tournament.
“It’s the media that wants to tell people from other countries that we’re wrong. We are still the beacon of civilisation for the whole world,” Darren said, before his wife added to his point.
“Get out of the cities into the country, get some country air and that’s where you will find America.”
“Don’t believe messages that we are oppressive people,” Darren continued. “Everyone has opportunity to come here and make it what you want to be.”
And that is just why The 42 ended up in Miami.
We had to follow the football.
There was only one story this weekend: Argentina v Cape Verde. Pico Lopes against Lionel Messi.
It was a World Cup game for the ages, the spirit and quality on display from Pico et al resonating with people throughout the world.
They made this World Cup what they wanted it to be; a celebration of a small country and their ability to outperform expectations through collective will, an inspirational coach in Bubista, and an ability to rise to the biggest occasion of their careers.
An emotional Pico Lopes had to fight back the tears and fight the lump in his throat as he began to reflect on his journey as a professional footballer over the last decade.
His achievements are inspirational to a generation of footballers in both Cape Verde and Ireland.
There are calls for an official welcome home reception for him in Dublin – might we suggest some form of open-top bus near the Walkinstown roundabout seeing as he was born and raised around the corner and it’s where Irish football fans have tended to congregate in numbers while celebrating their own at a World Cup.
And now the story moves on, to Mexico City for England against the co-hosts in the Azteca. America may be the land of opportunity but if Thomas Tuchel’s men overcome this challenge than surely they will feel like anything is possible.
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