By Clemente Lisi - PHILADELPHIA, PA (Jul 20, 2009) USSoccerPlayers -- Don’t tell David Downs the United States can't replicate the success of the 1994 World Cup.
“We have all the infrastructure in place to host a World Cup. No one doubts we would sell out [each game] if it was held here,” said Downs, who heads the US’s 2018/2022 World Cup bid committee.
That isn’t really an outlandish goal, but it's worth remembering how well the tournament did here last time around.
In 1994, the US silenced critics by putting together the most successful tournament in history. A cumulative attendance of 3.58 million spectators for 52 games (with an average of 68,911 fans per game) shattered records. The final, which Brazil won over Italy on penalties, played out at the Rose Bowl before 94,194 fans.
Downs and the committee now have the job of whittling down the list of markets to 18 from a staggering 37 (out of an original list of 70 venues). Included in the larger list were college as well as National Football League stadiums like the ones used to host the 2009 Gold Cup.
“There has been a great response from across the country,” said Downs, who visited Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday night to watch the USS’s Gold Cup quarterfinal match against Panama.
He liked what he saw.
“Philadelphia is a nice city and a worthy candidate to be a World Cup venue,” Downs said. “The crowd made a great impression. The building holds the noise and it was a fun atmosphere. It's a first-class facility with first-class amenities.”
“The Linc” -- as Eagles fans affectionately call the stadium – is the type of venue that could host several first round games, and even a quarterfinal, at the World Cup if FIFA awards the tournament to the US as early as 2018.
“We will need multiple cities around the country and there’s a lot of criteria,” said Downs.
That criterion includes having an international airport, world-class hotels in the area and a mass transit system that can shuttle fans to and from matches.
As part of his job, it is Downs’ responsibility to check out many venues and he’s used this month’s Gold Cup to travel around the country to see some of those stadiums first hand during a real game situation. Downs has already assessed Seattle’s Qwest Field and has said he is “thoroughly impressed” by the venue.
Downs said low attendance numbers at various venues during the Gold Cup is no indication of how the World Cup would do and will not be held against the venues. For instance, only 15,378 fans turned out at Qwest Field to watch the United States trounce Grenada 4-0 two weeks ago, but a staggering sellout crowd of 65,289 showed up on Saturday to watch English giants Chelsea down Sounders FC 2-0 in a friendly.
Ten other bidders have submitted letters to FIFA saying they want the World Cup: Australia, England, Indonesia, Japan, Qatar, Mexico, Russia and South Korea and joint bids from Belgium/The Netherlands and Spain/Portugal. South Korea and Qatar have said they are only interested in hosting the 2022 tournament.
Downs said the committee is slated to reduce the list of venues (12 may ultimately be used if the US is awarded the finals) by December and present the bid to FIFA in Zurich next May. FIFA is expected to make a final decision on who will host the 2018 and 2022 tournaments in the fall of 2010.
Clemente Lisi is the author of “A History of the World Cup: 1930-2006.” Contact him at: CAL4477@yahoo.com
