World Cup, Chicago Style

May 23, 2014 @ admin → No Comments

In that your humble correspondent knows little about soccer (among a seemingly infinite list of subjects), we are happy to have another party provide a look at the World Cup. Plus they provided the following photo.

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For those who have little (if any) interest in soccer, here is something that just might change your mind.

The 2014 FIFA World Cup in Rio de Janeiro is being played far, far away from Chicago. Geographically, it’s 5,297 miles. Culturally, it’s worlds apart.

But fans of soccer—or football or futbol or whatever the hell you guys call it—will still be able to feel connected to the World Cup here in the Windy City. Why travel all the way to murder-infested Brazil when you can get a World Cup experience right here in Chicago? Here are five Chi-town connections to this year’s World Cup.

1. Jermaine Jones and Brad Guzan

Two Chicago boys — well, two sort of Chicago boys — may be suiting up in the red, white and blue. Both Jones and Guzan are on Team USA’s preliminary 30-man roster, which will be cut to the final 23-man roster on June 2.

Guzan, a goalkeeper, was born in Evergreen Park and grew up playing youth soccer in the Chicago Magic Soccer Club and starred for Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox where he graduated in 2003. He now plays for Aston Villa in the English Premier League.

Jones, a midfielder, was actually born in Germany but was a military son and spent part of his youth growing up in Chicago. He plays for Besiktas in a Turkish professional league.

According to sports betting service Betfair, Team USA has odds of 239-to-1 to win the World Cup. So maybe the fewer Chicago connections the better, right? Eh, it’d still be a lot of fun to see these guys involved on such a big level.

2. Lupe Fiasco

The Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist — and Chicago native son — was named the Music Director for Team USA. Fiasco will collaborate with U.S. Soccer to handle in-game music programming during the Send-Off Series (a series of tuneup exhibition games before the team leaves for Brazil) while also handling the music for various promos for the team during the World Cup.

Prior to Team USA’s June 16 match against Ghana, Fiasco will be in Chicago to perform a live set as part of the U.S. Soccer Fan Fest. It may sound slightly better than those damn vuvuzelas.

3. Viewing Parties

For each of Team USA’s three group stage games, viewing parties will be held at Grant Park on behalf of U.S. Soccer. All the parties are free and open to anyone. The parties will be held June 16 (vs. Ghana), June 22 (vs. Portugal) and June 26 (vs. Germany).

Each event will feature ESPN’s telecast of the game on a 19×33-foot high definition screen with live look-ins of the crowd at Grant Park. Various activities including live music as well as food and drinks will be on hand at the parties.

So hopefully a massive gathering of drunks will make a 0-0 soccer game slightly less nauseating for the casual fan.

4. A World Cup for Amateurs

The 2014 Chicago World Cup Finals, a one-day soccer tournament for Chicago amateur players, will take place on July 19 at the Rauner YMCA. Players compete for the countries of their heritage, World Cup style, and each “country” is guaranteed at least three 26-minute games with referees.

Registration is still open and in addition to players and volunteers, soccer goons and hooligans are needed to make this tournament a success.

5. The Chicago Fire

While no Chicago Fire players will be playing in the World Cup, there are a few loose connections. DaMarcus Beasley, who played for the Fire from 2000-04 is on Team USA’s 30-man roster and is expected to make the final cut. Another player expected to make the squad, Michael Bradley, lived in Chicago and played for the Chicago Sockers of the USL while his father, Bob, coached the Fire from 1996-2002.

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Here is where to go for a daily dose of non-gratuitous video. In keeping with the soccer theme for the day, the editorial and video departments at ElliottHarris.com thought the following would be appropriate (with a broad definition of “appropriate”):