Not one, but two distinct soccer levels were on everyone’s mind on the opening night of the Town of Brookhaven boys summer soccer league at Center Moriches High School last week.

During his team’s 2-0 loss to Riverhead Charter, someone on the sideline told Southold assistant coach Lucas Grigonis that Paraguay was beating Germany in its World Cup Round of 32 match, 1-0.

“Wow,” he said.

Later, during a 2-0 loss to archrival Center Moriches, the friends of Mattituck head coach Danny O’Sullivan gave him digital updates.

“This is what they do to help me out,” he said. “As the watch was going off, I could see like save, save. They tell me what’s happening in the PKs.”

Paraguay won the shootout, in an upset.

Just about everyone at the doubleheader — players, coaches and spectators — had some strain of World Cup fever. It isn’t every day a country hosts the World Cup.

“It’s nice not to be up at two o’ clock in the morning or five o’clock in the morning to watch a game,” Mattituck assistant coach Will Hayes said about previous World Cup matches shown at ungodly times.

“I was seven years old when the U.S. hosted the ’94 World Cup,” said Grigonis, who subbed for the vacationing head coach Chris Ruggi. “It had me, hook, line and sinker.”

Now, a new generation has an opportunity to see the tournament up close.

O’Sullivan, a sixth-grade teacher at Cutchogue East Elementary School, used the World Cup as a teaching experience.

“Pretty much the whole second half of June, all we did was watch the World Cup in class,” he said. “We were able to teach them geography, history and countries.”

Settlers senior midfielder Brendan Boyle attended the Ivory Coast-Curacao game in Philadelphia on June 25.

“It was very exciting. Watching it in person is way different than watching it live on TV,” he said. “You’re seeing game moments that sometimes aren’t shown on TV. It was the best experience I probably ever had.”

Southold senior left back Jonny Moran has enjoyed it in another way.

“Whenever the World Cup comes around, we always just have big parties with my family,” he said. “It’s really fun to experience. Soccer is big in our family.”

Everyone has their favorite team.

Southold senior midfielder Elmer Chicas Velasquez is rooting for Colombia.

“I’ve always been a big fan of James Rodriguez,” he said of Colombia’s veteran striker. “He’s an excellent player.”

Mattituck junior forward Connor Searl is a big fan of the United States, which captured the Group D crown.

Searl said that he was impressed with the Americans’ “possession, their ability to switch and adapt to different formations and still take down teams. … It’s been very impressive. I’m excited to keep on watching.”

Earlier in the day, Mattituck’s Frankie Secaida, who can play any position, witnessed his favorite team, Brazil, overcome a second-half deficit to defeat Japan, 2-1.

“They were down 1-0. They didn’t fall under pressure. They came back and won,” he said.

The unofficial consensus had France and/or Spain reaching the final at MetLife Stadium on July 19.

“In my heart, obviously I want Portugal to win,” Mattituck midfielder Andy Manicia said. “I have always watched [Cristiano Ronaldo] playing soccer since I was a little kid, scoring goals, being the main character. I would love to see him win a World Cup. I think either France or Spain is going to win because they’re the strongest teams. They know how to play with each other. They’re just amazing.”

Secaida was also impressed with France and its one-two punch of Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele.

“They’ve been looking pretty solid the whole tournament,” he said.

Moran hoped for Argentina to defend its title.

“I grew up watching them since I was four years old,” he said. “I just fell in love with the game watching [Lionel] Messi play. Even though they won the last one, it would be great to see them win back-to-back.”

Mattituck did not have its full complement. The Palencia brothers, senior defender Alex and sophomore defender Dylan, had valid excuses. They attended the Paraguay-Germany match in Foxborough, Mass.

“Their parents surprised them with tickets. They were beyond ecstatic,” O’Sullivan said.

Mattituck resident Greg Maddaloni officiated the Tuckers game. During the contest, he asked O’Sullivan if he could start Wednesday night’s match 15 minutes or a half-hour earlier, so he could attend the North Fork United watch party in Greenport, featuring the U.S.-Bosnia and Herzegovina match.

O’Sullivan understood why.

“I was at the watch party with him for the USA-Australia game,” he said.

There is little doubt that World Cup fever is raging on the North Fork.

The post On summer league opening night, the World Cup was on the mind of North Fork players, coaches appeared first on The Suffolk Times.

Source link

24World Media does not take any responsibility of the information you see on this page. The content this page contains is from independent third-party content provider. If you have any concerns regarding the content, please free to write us here: contact@24worldmedia.com