Fans!

The biggest factor in my love for soccer is the fan supports. Nothing like it in the U.S. even comes close to comparing to this. As one of the largest events in the world, the record attendance at a World Cup game was 199,854 fans in 1950 for a match between Brazil and Uruguay. This number is over 90,000 more than the largest Super Bowl attendance which is considered the largest sporting event in America. Distance away from home does not affect a soccer fan the way it would a fan of any other sport. Soccer fans travel to the other side of the world to support their country's team.
Soccer fans are also willing to die for their team's respect. The most outrageous rivalry in all of sports is between Glasgow soccer teams Celtic and Rangers. Granted this is added to because of the contrast in religion, but none the less it is the most violent rivalry in the world. Every game between these two teams involves murders of those fans of the other team. I am not saying I support this but I am saying there is nothing compared to this in the U.S. We need to be more open to sharing in worldly passions rather than being stuck up and sticking to our own sports.