The Chattanooga Football Club will be united when it takes the field in Tulsa, Okla., on Saturday night. A few hours before, however, there will be division among the ranks when the United States and England meet in the World Cup.
“It’s going to be a battle,” CFC defender Thomas Clark said. “I think England might be a little surprised with what they’re going to see.”
Coach Brian Crossman said the team will watch the game together when they stop for lunch Saturday in Muskogee, Okla.
On the CFC roster, which has numerous players from outside the U.S., are five from Great Britain. As the start of the World Cup has drawn closer, the friendly trash talking among the U.S. and English players on the team has ratcheted up considerably.
“It’s all in good fun,” said goalkeeper Richard Masters from Kent, England. “I’m just taking it all in because I’m like half American now, I’ve been here so long (four years). I’ll be pulling for England, but I want them both to go through.”
England and the U.S. are the favorites to advance out of Group C, which also includes Algeria and Slovenia. England is No. 8 in the FIFA world rankings, and the U.S. is No. 14.
A win by the English, for whom soccer is the equivalent of the NBA and NFL combined in national significance, would be a good one, but not particularly remarkable.
A U.S. win, on the other hand, would be a signature victory for a country that never has been able to identify itself as a consistent challenger on the international stage. A loss Saturday wouldn’t be devastating to England as far as the World Cup goes, but it would not be received well back home, Masters said.
“I don’t know what will happen, other than I’m sure we’ll hear a lot about it from the Americans here,” Masters said. “Anything can happen. That’s what the World Cup’s about.”
England’s only World Cup title came in 1966, and its best showing since was a semifinal appearance in 1990. The U.S. team’s best result was a third-place finish in 1930.
While CFC (2-0) is in Oklahoma playing FC Tulsa, and trying to remain undefeated and atop the National Premier Soccer League standings, the club will be hosting an England-vs.-USA viewing part at the downtown Big River Grille, starting at 2 p.m.
Today’s long bus ride should feel a bit shorter to the players because the bus is equipped with satellite television, which will allow them to watch today’s games. Mexico faces host South Africa in the first match of the World Cup, and Uruguay plays France.