5 Reasons To Watch The Gold Cup Quarterfinals
BALTIMORE (WJZ-FM) -- The U.S. Men's National Team will face Cuba Saturday at the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals kickoff, which takes place in Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium.
The game starts at 5 p.m. and although avid soccer fans and USMNT supporters will gather at a stadium, if you're not headed to the game, here are some reasons why you should tune in.
The USMNT have something to prove.
After the U.S. Women's National Team took the win in the Women's World Cup, many said they were better than the U.S. Men's team. However, the men's team won its group led by Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley. Although they won, it wasn't a piece of cake. This is the game that could turn it around for the men's team as four Cuban played left during the tournament -- two defected and two others whereabouts are unknown.
Clint Dempsey is a top scorer.
Dempsey has been the top scorer not only for the U.S. but he's tied for top scorer of the cup with Mexico's Oribe Peralta. We always like to see those U.S. team goals and Dempsey may be the one to kick a few in. Maybe he'll even beat Carli Lloyd's hat trick record?
The rest of the world is obsessed with soccer.
OK, so obsessed, we're not there yet. Even after the USWNT kicked butt, U.S. sports fans haven't become soccer crazed. But, seriously we should. We should try to understand why the rest of the world loves this sport so much and support our men's team like they do.
Skills & Athleticism.
Which other sport are people running almost continuously across a field for 45 minutes straight? When the game is fast-paced, the halves don't seem as long, but they are 45 minutes a piece. And that's if the officials don't add more time to the game for penalties. In addition to their fitness, they have amazing skills. Have you seen them dribbling past players, weaving the soccer ball in and out of the their feet and around their opponents? Then when they make a goal kick, the strength and skill it takes to get it not only past the defenders and goalie, but then into the goal? Yes, football and baseball take skill and athleticism -- but there's a lot of stopping and starting.
It can bring us together.
The men's team deserves our support. As Americans, sometimes there isn't much that brings us together or so it would seem with recent headlines. But soccer transcends all races, creeds, cultures and ages. It's something we can bond over not only as a nation, but as a world. That American pride we felt when the USWNT took home the World Cup after 16 years -- we can feel it again.
