Well, that was about the loudest draw I've ever seen.
American fans still haven't stopped wandering through the streets, recruiting whoever they can to their cause, following the US team's surprise 1-1 draw with England.
I've seen Africans joining American dance parties, which is a big deal for a few reasons: 1) most South Africans support a English Premier Leage team, due to the British influence, so they're all familiar with English players, 2) there's far more English fans throughout Cape Town, and 3) it's usually Africans that start dance parties.
Not tonight, though. When Clint Dempsey's daisy-cutter slipped through English goalkeeper Robert Green's gloves and squirted across the goal line, Americans treated themselves to a half-hour celebration, using halftime as an opportunity to harass any Englishmen they could find.
It got nerve wracking near the end, as the English mounted attack after relentless attack. But the dam held, and the U.S. are in great position to move on in the tournament. And trust me, the fans let you hear about it.
It actually made you proud to be an American. I heard from a San Diego fan later say that "Americans are always great in the bars, but they're closeted in the streets." The State Department has warned American fans about strutting their stuff in South Africa, and the host nation's security forces have publicly voiced their wish for Barack Obama to stay at home, citing security concerns.
However, in FIFA's Fan Fest center in downtown Cape Town, the American crowd was small (English fans outweighed ours 3 to 1) but vociferous. Flags were waving, fists were pumping, and the Star Spangled Banner was echoing off the walls. I saw Americans wearing red, white and blue soccer balls on their heads, flags on their shoulders -- I even saw an outcropping of Obama shirts. Late in the match, a "Yes We Can" chant started to make the rounds among American and African fans alike.
As always, the party is still raging as I write this -- but for a change, the party is being thrown by the Yanks.
