Happy Birthday America and happy Fourth of July weekend my fellow Americans. It’s back to work on Monday, July 8th, but the day before brings a Sunday U.S. Soccer doubleheader that could end the holiday weekend with a red, white and blue bang.
If you’re into soccer, then the real fireworks are still to come this weekend. At 10 am central, the USWNT, the top ranked national side by FIFA, will go for their fourth Women’s World Cup title when they take on the 8th ranked Netherlands. Imagine what the flamboyant, controversial celebrations will be if the U.S. women finish the job.
on @thebig1070 today w @RobbVogel & @JoelFinkelman talking about @alexmorgan13 @USWNT #FIFAWWC #USA #ENG #NED potentially sexist #WomensWorldCup media coverage, my book #NoICantGetYouFreeTickets
Segment starts @ 31 min but you should listen to whole show https://t.co/cO8LdvMT0j— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) July 5, 2019
I can’t wait to see what Alex Morgan comes up with for this one– probably a gesture that looks like smoking a joint. This will be the USA’s fifth appearance in the title game, and they finished third in the other three World Cups.
Later, at 8pm central, another tournament that began in 1991 (at least in its current form) reaches its conclusion as the CONCACAF Gold Cup Final will commence at Soldier Field in Chicago. This will be the sixth time, in 15 editions, that we see a Mexico vs. USA finale. El Tri has won all but one (2007) of these previous Gold Cup Final tilts.
Of the previous 14 Gold Cup title matches, only one (2000, when Canada beat Colombia 2-0) did not feature the Mexicans or Americans.
In recent years, we’ve seen just how much the United States of America has become a soccer/football/futbol country, and Sunday is poised to be another landmark day in the sport.
“We always use this stat that speaks to the quality and value of the sport here- the U.S. has been the leading buyer of tickets for the last three World Cups, behind only the host country,” said Concacaf Chief Commercial Officer Heidi Pellerano during the exclusive conversation we had with her on Monday.
“Imagine even in Russia, to become number two when your team isn’t even participating- that’s people seeing the level of participation and the acquisition power that comes with it.”
Pellerano appeared at Gold Cup station, an interactive fan and media event staged in Chicago’s Union Station this week. Sunday night’s Gold Cup Final sold out long before any of us knew who the two teams would be, with the cheapest ticket on Ticket Master still priced at $260, and that’s way up in section 351.
In other words, it’s going to be an electric atmosphere at the lake front, and if the USA can complete the double header sweep, well, as Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote in Hamilton: “Raise a glass to freedom, they’ll tell the story of tonight.”
U.S. Men’s National Team Coach Gregg Berhalter, who has a golden opportunity to establish himself and the validity of his new regime Sunday night, took time during his press conference on Tuesday to praise the U.S. women.
“I think there’s lessons to be learned from what they’re doing,” said Berhalter regarding the USWNT.
“When you think about the determination that they show, the confidence that they show, that’s really great to see. They’re at the World Cup, and they’re that confident of a group, they’re that resilient as a group where they know they can be pushed, and they have no problem with it.”
“They stay calm and they keep executing what their game is.”
“I have a lot of respect for what they’re doing. We’re pulling for them in the final, and it would be nice to have two teams from the same country playing a final on the same day,” Berhalter said the day before his team booked their place in their respective tournament finale.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com on Twitter here and his cat on Instagram at this link.