EMPIRE'S CUP INTEREST GROWING
Published on June 8, 2002
© 2002- The Press Democrat
BYLINE: BRUCE
MEADOWS
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Marcus Ziemer doesn't have surgery scheduled in the near future,
but if he did?
``The first thing I'd ask my doctor is whether he was a soccer
fan,'' said Ziemer, the men's coach at Sonoma State University. ``If
he said yes, I would definitely postpone the surgery.''
Ziemer is a guy to whom the ongoing World Cup is synonymous with
sleeplessness. He and his friends think staying up all night to
watch matches being played in South Korea and Japan is quite normal.
It's a group that may be growing.
``Some people are going to watch the games no matter what time
they're on TV and in some cases, no matter who's playing,'' said
Ziemer, coming off a three-match Thursday night that started with
Sweden vs. Nigeria at 11:30 p.m.
``But after the U.S. beat Portugal (Wednesday night), the fringe
fans are taking notice.''
The place to be for hard-core Empire futbol fans is the home of
Andrew Rowley, who lives in the hills above Rohnert Park.
Rowley, from Terra Linda, played professionally with Sheffield in
the English Premier League and trained with the English national
team. He assisted Ziemer and Peter Reynaud at SSU and coachedthe
Hawaii Tsunami of the USISL in 1995.
So Rowley, who now owns and operates Sports City
indoor soccer centers in Santa Rosa and Cotati, knows the sport.
``We have two rooms with big-screen TVs,'' said Rowley.
``Basically it's by invitation, but everybody in the soccer
community knows where we are.''
Rowley said when the U.S.-Portugal game began at 2 a.m., he had
about 30 guests.
``But when the U.S. went up 3-1 at half, more people started
showing up,'' he said. ``They thought the U.S. was going to get
killed but they were winning ... they told me they couldn't stand to
be alone.''
Rowley said if the U.S. had lost or even tied Portugal, interest
might not be so high.
``But now, if they beat South Korea Sunday, they advance,'' he
said. And Rowley expects a big crowd at his place Sunday.
Ziemer said the victory over Portugal was as big as the 1-0
decision over England in 1950 and the 2-1 shocker over Colombia at
the Rose Bowl in 1994.
Luke Oberkirch, the SSU women's coach, senses a surge in interest
following the 3-2 win over Portugal.
``Maybe it was because it was in the middle of the night here,
but it still seemed like a dream,'' said Oberkirch. ``I hope we can
keep it up because this is one of those deals where the momentum
starts to grow.''
Nick Roberts, a native of England and the new director of
coaching for Santa Rosa United soccer club, was surprised at the
U.S. win.
``Portugal took the Americans too lightly,'' he said. ``It was
one of those games ... after the first goal, I think Portugal was
shell-shocked.''
Roberts' ultimate loyalty lies with England, so he was elated
when England upset favored Argentina early Friday morning.
``I was on the phone, calling all over the world,'' he said.
Roberts, who played semipro soccer in Manchester, said the the
Americans need to win or tie Korea Sunday.
``The U.S. is good, no question,'' said Roberts. ``But if they
don't advance to the second round, people will say the win over
Portugal was a fluke.'' |
