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It was a full house Friday at the Leaning Cask Brewing Co. in Springdale as Alle-Kiski Valley soccer fans cheered on the United States in a match against England for the World Cup in Qatar.
With flat-screen televisions and a projector all showing the game, a raucous crowd dressed in U.S. jerseys and red, white and blue attire cheered on their country’s team with their eyes glued to the screens and hands wrapped around ice-cold brews. Some brought their dogs.
“We love to see this,” said Josh Lipke, owner of the brewery, when asked about the turnout at halftime. “The World Cup is awesome to begin with. It’s awesome to see this many people out here. (The game) is pretty even right now. I’m actually a little more impressed with the U.S. and the fact they’re hanging in with England.”
Although the game ended in a 0-0 draw, the energized crowd seemed to enjoy themselves as they drank locally brewed beers filled to the brim of their glasses and ate barbecue from a food truck outside the brewery.
Those attending the watch party varied from die-hard soccer fans to those who just like to watch an occasional game.
Some, such as Eileen Ford of Cheswick, even rooted for England over their home country. When asked about her team preferences, she said Argentina was her choice to win the World Cup.
“I don’t know. I just feel like where our rankings are, I feel like, eh,” Ford said, adding she is not a hardcore soccer fan but goes “back and forth.”
However, it was clear the majority of the crowd was rooting for the U.S. as they cheered at the top of their lungs and thrust their hands in the air each time the team nearly scored.
Jackie Hoteck of Springdale, who follows soccer closely and has played since she was 4, said she believed the U.S. team would at least win the group they’re in.
“We’re a young squad, and I think we have a lot of development to do,” Hoteck said. “But it’s going to be great to see how it goes this time around. I think we can make it out of this group. We have a lot of young guys, and we’ll see how they step up their game.”
Hoteck, wearing the jersey of the retired Clint Dempsey, said U.S. players Timothy Weah and Sergiño Dest were two of the main players to look out for.
Also noting the U.S. players are young this time around, Andy Masarick, a longtime soccer fan from Fawn who was visiting from northern Virginia, said that fact could be an advantage going forward.
“Sometimes inexperience is a good thing,” Masarick said. “This is a young man’s game. Get out the energy out there, especially playing in the Middle East where it’s warmer. We don’t really know what the expectations are; they haven’t really been around for that long.”
With an 0-2-0 record so far in the World Cup, the U.S. is next set to play the 1-0-1 Iran at 2 p.m. Tuesday.
Logan Hullinger is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Logan at 724-226-7744, lhullinger@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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Alle-Kiski soccer fans cheer on USA in World Cup match against England – TribLIVE
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