NEW YORK (AP) — On the first day of the tournament, I sat in a Manhattan soccer bar drinking beer and sitting among a roaring crowd. world cupGeorge Carson described himself as a big soccer fan and said he would like to watch all 104 games of the world tournament.
But what about Saturday?
“You need to watch the Knicks,” he said.
Most countries that host the World Cup focus on soccer. But for the New York Knicks holding a 3-1 lead Attention will certainly be divided this weekend as they face San Antonio in a best-of-7 NBA Finals game and are just one win away from winning their first title since 1973. The Knicks could be locked in if they win Game 5 on Saturday night. Tipov will take place immediately after Brazil and Morocco finish their World Cup match in New Jersey, and will coincide directly with the showdown between Scotland and Haiti.
“We want to see every World Cup game, but the Knicks are still our priority,” Carson, 38, said while watching the opening ceremony of the World Cup with friends at The Football Factory at Legends, a soccer bar near Madison Square Garden. “We’ll probably hear the (soccer) recap after that.”
of Knicks take control of New Yorkbut even some die-hard fans are already divided on attention. Hours before sitting courtside for a Knicks game. Historic Round 4 Rally At MSG, director Spike Lee donned green and gold and visited Brazil’s training facility in New Jersey on Wednesday.
Brazil will play Morocco in the season opener in East Rutherford, N.J., at 6 p.m., with the game scheduled to end about 30 minutes before NBA play begins in Texas. Scotland vs. Haiti and Massachusetts start at 9 p.m.
The Football Factory has 20 screens, enough to satisfy every fan.
Jack Keane, an Irishman who runs The Football Factory, said: “We want things to calm down on Saturday night so we can say good job, Knicks. We’ll have a parade and that’s it. Now we can focus on football.”
Keane’s bar attracts groups of Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Leeds and AC Milan supporters. He estimated more than 2,000 people would be at the bar on Wednesday night, when the Knicks won Game 4.
“The Knicks crowd was the same as the Champions League final crowd,” he said.
Keene’s bar was charging $20, including a drink, for the opening game between Mexico and South Africa.
Fans also lined up at Smithfield Hall, a 10-minute walk to the south and east, which was hosted by supporter clubs of Manchester United, West Ham, Nottingham Forest, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Roma and Marseille.
“Typically, American sports are long distances, so people don’t like to stand,” said Kieron Slattery, an Irish co-owner of Smithfield. “The Knicks are standing right now. It’s like a football game.”
Most of the fans watching Thursday were New Yorkers, many originally from other parts of the country.
Ryan Cole, 44, from Southampton, England, who has lived in New York for more than a decade, wears an England jersey and is hoping to get tickets to the Three Lions’ group stage match against Panama on June 27. His grandfather, William Cole, was a linesman in the English league and has a program named after him, dating back to the 1952 Manchester-Chelsea game.
“You’re seeing waves of jerseys everywhere. It’s amazing,” he said of football kits and Knicks gear. “It’s always great to be in New York, but right now, especially with the Knicks, the World Cup, and the summer, I couldn’t be happier.”
One of his friends, Joel Ramirez, 46, is the son of Mexican parents who immigrated to New York from Dallas. During the 2022 World Cup, the Mexican national team watched games at various ethnic restaurants associated with the teams involved, including Sunset Park in Brooklyn. He thinks there will be more football supporters at the bar on Saturday than Knicks fans.
“There will be more pound-for-pound soccer fans in the city,” he said. “I’ll watch both.”
New York City’s soccer bars open early on weekends for fans to watch lunchtime matches from England and Europe. The World Cup is different.
“If you look at the Premier League, it’s still a niche market. Some people watch it and some people don’t,” Keane said. “The World Cup is a big tournament. It’s a big party. Everyone has a shirt in their closet. Everyone claims their identity, or their parents or grandparents, and jumps on the bandwagon.”
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
