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USL Nashville SC

Nashville Soccer Fans Brave Weather Delay to Boost USMNT to Gold Cup Semifinal Win

July 4, 2019 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Nashville SC News Release


NASHVILLE - Soccer fans in the Music City are used to weather delays.

When Wednesday night's Gold Cup semifinal match between the United States and Jamaica at Nissan Stadium was stopped in the 16' minute due to lightning in the area, the red, white and blue-clad fans in the crowd filed into the concourse to wait out the delay. After nearly 90 minutes, the match finally resumed at 10:20 p.m. local time.

Between road and home matches this season, Nashville Soccer Club has experienced four severe weather delays, so the local fans knew how to maintain the energy level in the building even after a lengthy delay. That was not lost on USMNT Head Coach Gregg Berhalter, who coached his team to a 3-1 victory and set up a date with Mexico in the final on Sunday.

"When I was coming back out, I was just picturing what the stadium was going to look like," Berhalter said. "I was really surprised how everyone hung around. A lot of credit to the fans, they really helped us get through it. I've been in situations before where we have weather delays, you come out and the stadium is empty. Then it's difficult to bring that same energy. But the fans were amazing. Nashville is a great city to play soccer in."

In the first 16 minutes of the match, the United States came out flying and got the first goal off the foot of FC Schalke 04 star Weston McKennie. Even though Jamaica made adjustments coming out of the delay and put the pressure on the U.S., McKennie noted how much it meant to have strong energy in the crowd even going into a second half that didn't begin until after 11:00 p.m. local time.

"It definitely helps whenever you have fans in any sport," McKennie said. "Being able to come back out and see the fans there and hearing them chant and pushing us on, it's definitely a big help and big support for us."

U.S. defender Matt Miazga also appreciated how much energy the fans gave the squad after the long delay.

"It's great to come back to the stadium with the same amount of fans," Miazga said. "It's great that they support us through anything and that really gave us a boost to continue to see out the game."

The USMNT has paid multiple visits to Nashville over the last few years. In 2017, the U.S. took on Panama in a Gold Cup group stage match that drew over 47,000 fans to Nissan Stadium. Last September, over 40,000 watched the U.S. beat Mexico 1-0 in a friendly.

Miazga was in the squad for both of those matches and Wednesday night's match, and the former New York Red Bulls star is excited to see what the future has in store for Nashville in MLS.

"The last couple of times I've played here, the support was great," Miazga said. "I think two years ago in the Gold Cup we played Panama in the first game and it was a big crowd. We played Mexico last year with a big crowd. This was pretty good given the late time. Nashville is obviously coming up in the soccer world, and we wish them nothing but the best next year when they join MLS."



United Soccer League Championship Stories from July 4, 2019


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