The Gold Cup in Philly [now with more dreadlocks]

By: Andrew | July 22nd, 2009

With the Gold Cup quarterfinal matches behind us, the City of Philadelphia has proven it’s more than ready for Major League Soccer. The fans came out in full force – over 31,000 strong – to watch both games. The team was impressed with both the Eagles’ training facility at the NovaCare Complex as well as Lincoln Financial Field. But don’t take it from me, you need to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth.

Kyle Beckerman, midfielder for Real Salt Lake and the Man of the Match for the US/Panama game, said it best during the post-game press conference (with all the “umm”s, “uhh”s, and “you know”s edited out of course):

“Yeah, Philly has been top notch, all around. The Eagles organization has really, given us their facilities to use, and been just really, really nice to us. Really thankful to them, and the whole city has been great. We’ve been here for a week now, so we got to know some of the streets, where the cheesesteaks are at, and so it’s been a lot fun. We had a good time this week and we kinda bumped shoulders with some of the Eagles and Brian Westbrook and stuff like that. So, it’s been fun – and David Akers – so it’s been a fun week and it seems like the fans here are really, really excited for soccer and they showed us a lot of support tonight and so it should be something when the Union comes here.”

Getting the blessing of the USMNT can only help put Philadelphia in the running as a host city for the World Cup in 2018 or 2022. Hearing from an MLS player how well the Union will be supported next season is music to my ears. I wonder if he knows how “well” opposing teams will be treated, and if he’ll be singing the same happy tune when RSL plays its first game down at Seaport Drive. Personally, I don’t know about that …

See you in 2010, Kyle.