CFC player Michael Brooks, Jr. controls the ball against the Atlanta Silverbacks at Finley Stadium on May 28 .South African native Sias Reyneke has seen the shift in excitement surrounding soccer in the United States, since arriving in the country before playing for Cleveland High School and Lee University.
He and the rest of the Chattanooga Football Club hope some of the latest “World Cup Fever” shifts over to their level of soccer tonight.
The team has a match against the New Orleans Jesters at 7:30 at Finley Stadium. With a win, Chattanooga FC (6-2-2, 5-1-2) will clinch the top seed in the National Premier Soccer League Southeast Division standings, with one week remaining before the playoffs begin on July 11 at Finley.
Reyneke, who scored two goals in CFC’s 6-1 win over Georgia Revolution last week, has been pleasantly surprised by the increased attention to the sport.
“There are so many people in the United States getting into World Cup matches on social media,” Reyneke said Friday. “Four years ago, there weren’t this many. Four years before that, there weren’t nearly as much.”