Victor Lindsay played a lot of soccer, as Americans call the game, in his youth but had little interest in watching matches, whether in the World Cup or English Premier League, until 1994, when a friend introduced him to a computer game. Championship Manager, a football management simulation, gave him an early introduction to some of the world's best teams and players. His addiction to the game coincided with the 1994 World Cup being hosted in the United States, and soon Mr Lindsay was hooked. "That kind of got me addicted to soccer in general," said Mr Lindsay, 28, a Texan, who moved to Abu Dhabi from New York. "Later, in college in 2000, I started playing again obsessively in my dorm room and I became a really big fan of Everton. "I liked them when I was young and Everton wasn't the best team," said the part-time member of staff at New York University Abu Dhabi. "In American football, basketball, whatever, I cheered for good teams but not the best, like the Texas Longhorns, so I knew what it was like to support a team that could win on any given week but never win a trophy."
Mr Lindsay has since lived in London and travelled to Liverpool to watch Everton play at their home ground, Goodison Park. His knowledge of the US national team is strong. Mr Lindsay's story of becoming a fan of the "beautiful game" may sound odd to people from Europe or South America who grew up with the sport. But in America, where highlights from Major League Soccer matches are aired at the end of one-hour sports shows and it is not considered a mainstream sport, following the game was more of a conscious choice, he said.
That is likewise true of Matt Cole, 52, who grew up in Texas, moved to Los Angeles and now works for a division of Adnoc while living in Abu Dhabi. Mr Cole started following the World Cup in 1990 more because his then-wife, a Brazilian, was a passionate fan. Now he supports the US first, then Brazil. It was his 16-year-old daughter, Giulia, who was the big fan in his family, he said. Though the game's popularity is steadily growing, Mr Lindsay believes that until America can develop a league with the prestige of the European Champions League, it will not have the popularity of mainstream sports like American football.
"Until America can break this threshold of international competition, it will always be a second-tier sport for us," he said. "It is less dependent on the players and more on the marketing of the sport." Ben Whitfield, from Washington, said it was "not a problem that is limited to just soccer, but any other sport not in the mainstream in the US has a very difficult time succeeding". "So much money is put in to the other ones," he said. "As a kid, if you look at how much am I going to make if I make the NBA or how much will I make for DC United, you clearly choose to play basketball."
In recent years, the national team has done its part to raise the game's profile, appearing in every World Cup finals since 1990 and reaching the quarter-finals in 2002. The team is ranked 14th in the world by governing body Fifa, and were runners-up in last summer's Confederations Cup, which is contested every four years by the winners of each of the six Fifa confederation championships, along with the hosts and the winner of the previous World Cup. The US shocked Spain in the semi-finals in South Africa, and were two-nil up against Brazil before losing 3-2. For US fans in the Emirates, being drawn with England adds extra spice to the first round of matches. Mr Whitfield, in his 30s, expects some healthy banter this week in the lead-up to the match. He calls himself a "typical American soccer fan" who watches the game only every four years. Still, he says he is ready to engage his English colleagues at the security firm for which he works in Abu Dhabi. "I will probably make a few comments but I would much rather the US team do my talking for me," he said. "England is good fun," said Mr Lindsay, who plans to watch every match with his British friend, Jay Raja. "You can always poke fun at them. They invented the sport and they are really not that good at it on an international level. Uruguay has won more World Cups than England."
England has a more talented crop of players going to this World Cup than it did in 2006 but will find it difficult to win the tournament on tired legs from a long domestic season, according to one of the country's former players. "My big worry about the English national team, having played in major tournaments myself, is the length of our season," said Carlton Palmer, a midfielder who was in the starting squad for England in its unsuccessful 1992 European Championship campaign. "Our top players will have played 70 or 80 games this season. It is going to be difficult. "I think it is a better squad [than in 2006] and certainly we have the players to win the tournament. I don't believe it will happen due to the length of our season, but if you get to the quarter-finals or semi-finals anything is possible." Palmer 44, is now head of football at the Transguard Elite Sporting Academy at Repton School in Nad Al Sheba, Dubai, an academy set up by Tim Cahill, the Australian international midfielder who plays in England for Everton, and the rugby coach John Mamea-Wilson. In addition to winning 18 caps with England, Palmer played in the top flight of English club football, most notably for Sheffield Wednesday. He was also a match analyst for the BBC and currently appears on programmes run by Showtime Arabia, Arab Radio and Television Network and Tensports. England, ranked ninth in the Fifa world standings, have been trying to win the World Cup ever since 1966, when they won it on home soil. However, Palmer thinks that Argentina could be the team to go all the way in 2010. While they had to win their final qualifying match to assure their place in South Africa, Palmer thinks they may have the best team. He pointed out that, at the European Championships in 1992, Denmark had failed to qualify before being allowed in as a replacement for Yugoslavia, which faced international sanctions. The Danes drew against England in the first round, advanced to the knock-out stage and won the championship. "I'm looking at everybody and thinking to myself will it be one of those fairytale World Cups where Argentina struggled to qualify and then they go on and win it," Palmer said. "I look at the players they've got and I'm thinking, if they actually can get off and running, they have the ability in that squad to win the tournament." However, Palmer said Spain could not be ignored, nor could Brazil, as both teams had the advantage of playing in South Africa last year in the Confederations Cup. Palmer will be offering his opinions before and after matches at functions organised by Showtime Arabia throughout the tournament.
Maged Achour has fewer friends since Algeria qualified for the World Cup finals last November. They made it to their third finals at the expense of rivals and African champions Egypt, winning a tense play-off match 1-0. Supporter violence surrounded the match and diplomatic relations between the two nations soured, with Egypt withdrawing its envoy to Algiers. For Mr Achour, relations with his Egyptian friends also soured, something that saddens the 32-year-old architect, who lives in Abu Dhabi. "To be honest with you, the relationship between Algeria and Egypt is very bad," said Mr Achour. "I cannot tell you what is the degree. "I had some Egyptian friends before but now they have given up relations with me because of the football. It is not political. "What is also disappointing is that the Egyptians will not support Algeria in the World Cup." Another Algerian, Lamine Barkat, 28, from Dubai, said he also had to choose his words carefully around his Egyptian friends now that his country was in the finals. Still, it is a proud moment for the country and Mr Barkat hopes for a strong performance from the national team, ranked 30th in the world by Fifa, football's governing body. Although he believes that the match with England is a foregone conclusion, he expects his country to play well against the United States and Slovenia. "England it is not negotiable," said Mr Barkat, who moved to Abu Dhabi about 10 years ago, and is one of about 5,000 Algerians living in the UAE. "Before it begins we know we are going to lose, it is a fact. We will play for honour, that's it. "Slovenia, we can take them and USA as well. They don't have history like England." The men intend to watch the matches with friends. Mr Barkat said there was a cafe popular with Algerians in Jumeirah, where he intends to catch the action.
When Beno Saradzic moved to Abu Dhabi in 1991, his homeland of Slovenia had recently declared independence from Yugoslavia, part of the split of a powerful football force into six independent states. Next week, when Slovenia open their World Cup against Algeria, it will be the club's second appearance since the split and they will be joined by Serbia, another member of the former Yugoslavia. For Mr Saradzic, 42, an executive film producer with Timesand Studios, his national team's appearance is a huge source of pride. With a population of just over two million people, Slovenia is the smallest nation in the tournament. The second-smallest is Uruguay, at 3.5 million. "Most people don't know where Slovenia is on a map," Mr Saradzic observed. "Actually, I am having a little trouble finding it. "Just to qualify was a huge achievement because we had to eliminate Russia. We eliminated someone much bigger than us." The Slovenes' prior appearance at Japan/Korea 2002 was brief, as they lost their three group games by a cumulative score of 7-2. Then, they were led by Srecko Katanec, the current coach of the UAE national team. Matjaz Kek will try to better his predecessor's record. Mr Saradzic, who believes he is one of about a dozen Slovenians in the Emirates, said he is not getting his hopes up. "We are in a tough group with England and the States," he said. "We can hope to do something with the States and maybe Algeria, but if we managed to do something and to qualify for the next round, well, that would defy expectations." Mr Saradzic said he will also be pulling for Serbia, as he has a soft spot for all the former Yugoslav republics. "I was 23 when Yugoslavia fell apart," he said. "Yugoslavia did amazing things in football. When it fell apart everybody felt sorry, especially for the sports teams. "Now I see we are really doing well even though the country has been split. I think Serbians will probably be cheering for Slovenia as well - even if they do not want to admit it, they will be secretly cheering for them."
mchung@thenational.ae
