Soccer Fever Soars Ahead of Women's World Cup Final
LINCOLN - Husker football fandom dominates the Cornhusker state, but this week there's another type of football that has a group of sports fans buzzing.
Captain Jack's in Lincoln was packed on Tuesday as nearly 100 US soccer fans witnessed the American Women defeated England 2-1 to advance to the World Cup Final.
The environment inside was electric, which isn't new for the establishment. The bar serves as the birthplace of the American Outlaws, the largest United States National Team supporters group in the world. The group, which was founded by three local men in 2007, has grown to more than 30,000 members and has 200 chapters worldwide.
"We're kind of used to this at this point," American Outlaws Spokesman Matt Anderson shared. "It's just been building to the point where we're at capacity, and it's been great."
While it's exciting for a soccer fan to picture AO chapters across the country celebrating in unison after the final whistle of the semifinal victory, there's something even more impressive to be said about an international soccer movement that began in Lincoln, NE.
"We turn out for a lot of stuff," Anderson added. "We turn out for [Husker] football of course, volleyball, men's basketball, women's basketball...We like our sports here."
With excitement building as Sunday's 10 AM kickoff for the championship match grows closer, accommodations have been made for the expected overflow crowd at Captain Jack's. The Talon Room will also be opening its doors at 8 AM.
"We'll get a pretty good turnout, obviously triple digits," Anderson said. "And I don't mean the temperature, I mean the turnout."
The US Women will take on the Netherlands in the final. A win for the US would mark the fourth World Cup title for the country. The game will be broadcast live on Fox.