United States midfielder Weston McKennie hopes the Club World Cup will grow interest in soccer ahead of a pivotal 12 months for the sport in the country.
FIFA’s new showpiece club event gets underway on June 15 with McKennie set to play for Serie A side Juventus against Manchester City, Al Ain and Wydad Casablanca in Group G.
The States also hosts the World Cup next summer and McKennie is optimistic the club version will successfully whet the appetite for soccer fans Stateside.
He told FIFA.com: “I think it’s huge. The US has taken big steps in that sense, bringing players that may be towards the end of their career, but are still very influential – [Lionel] Messi, [Luis] Suarez, Jordi Alba, [Sergio] Busquets and, at the beginning of time, [David] Beckham and Zlatan [Ibrahimovic] and all these guys going over to America, and it’s bringing more popularity to the sport there.
“For Americans to be able to witness games and not (have) the time difference of having to stay up or wake up early to watch games, they can see it right there live and see the players that they support and teams that they support. I think it’ll draw more attention and when the actual World Cup comes around, I think that’ll be very big for the culture or soccer culture in America.”
McKennie believes CWC will be better than Copa shambles
McKennie was hugely critical of the pitches at the US venues for last year’s Copa América but is more optimistic the country will stage a good event this time round.
He added: “It’s an amazing opportunity, especially being in America. I think that’s what’s most exciting about it. I think any professional athlete and anyone that’s competitive has a goal to go there and win. So that’s obviously what our mindset is – it’s to go there and do our best in the tournament and try and win a trophy. We get to play games against teams you don’t normally play against.
“I think it’s a little bit similar in terms of (the) Champions League, but this is many more different cultures, it’s around the world. I think it’s the closest thing you can get to the World Cup without it being the actual World Cup of national teams, but of club teams and many different players from different continents and cultures on certain teams.
“I think it’ll be a good opportunity for the players just to understand the levels of football around the world – Italians being able to see what it’s like to play against a Liga MX team or against a USA team. It should be amazing.”
