I'm having a change of heart in football

By Joe Pantorno

Tuesday night, the Americans punched their tickets to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil with a 2-0 win over
Mexico. In the past, I would've met this news with some pessimistic, insulting remarks, saying they won't make it out of the group.

They still might not, but let me tell you why I always had a bit of a qualm with U.S. It had nothing to do with the team or the federation. It was the fans.

I grew up with a passion for the sport and was always belittled by tons of folks here about the game. Granted, I was raised watching and supporting the Italian National Team. I always supported the U.S, too, but they were an afterthought.

People ask me why I support Italy. Well, I always have and I always will. It's like me asking you why you support your team. You just do. You were born into it. A relative rooted for them. You know the drill.

So come World Cup time, whether it was '98, '06 and '10, some of these guys that spent three and a half years insulting a game I love would put on red, white and blue and act like fools with zero knowledge of the team and the game they watched. They didn't deserve a good team. They lacked imagination. They wouldn't know what to do with all that space that footballers are given.

"There's not enough scoring."

"It's too boring."

"They're a bunch of pansies."

Last World Cup, I was pulling for Ghana in the knockout stage against the Americans. Yeah, I'll say it. They just didn't deserve a good team. There have always been die-hards, but the uneducated far outweighed those that should have experienced some kind of success.

I've finally been seeing a change in the scope of American fans. There's passion. Albeit there are plenty of non-believers that are going to act like they give a darn come World Cup time. It was rocking in Columbus, the fans were vocal and the atmosphere was brilliant.

It's safe to say that those folks finally deserve it. Hell, come World Cup time I might put the Azzurri, as much as it might pain me, in the back seat and put on my Timmy Howard shirt. I never felt like a good American in these situations and it's about time I show these guys some support. They deserve it. They deserve some real support.

But I'll always root for my Italians. If they come head to head at any point in Brazil, well, I'll be in quite the conundrum.