It is nearly impossible to be a fan of european soccer (football) over here. Sure they show euro clubs battling it out on ESPN 2 or Fox Sports Net. But usually during the weekday afternoons and while NFL is on during Sundays. I can't miss watching the Redskins!

Anyway, ever since FIFA 94 I have been a fan of soccer (the vid game at least). As the series has progressed I have become interested in all the club teams and the sport as a whole in Europe. I follow Rosenborg since my heritage is from Norway. If I'm lucky I will see them play next year. I also follow the Newcastle United. I don't know many players except for the starts like Tor Anders Flo or Beckham but I'm getting better.

Anyway, my interest for the european game has grown with each version of FIFA. My friends don't understand my interest in the game, but I'm open to all sports. I have a lot of D.C. United material in my room (even though they suck now) because I'm a big MLS fan (mostly because of FIFA 94). I can't wait to play FIFA 2001 (hopefully this week). I was wondering though, is there any Americans like me who have gained an interest in the European game because of the FIFA series?

I am from Syracuse, NY and enjoy the mls...i am a big mcbride fan and ben olsen (though both those guys might go overseas for good)

My interest in the european leagues and those in other countries is just to see how our US players are doing...tab ramos, frankie hedjuk, landon donovan, etc...especially joe max moore who I believe could be the best american player right now.

Hey

I had all the FIFA games from FIFA International until now. I was a Holland fan when I first played FIFA International, because I liked the color orange http://www.soccergaming.com/ubb/tongue.gif. I soon began to follow Holland at World Cup 94 and then I began to like Italy because of Baggio.

Soon when the game had real players and esp. in FIFA 96 on the PC (one of my all time fav games) my favorite player was Alan Shearer. So I played with Blackburn and when I heard he went to Newcastle (FIFA 97 now) I began to be an avid supporter of Newcastle. I then began to play as Newcastle with Shearer, Asprilla, and Ferdinand up front, with Ginola, Gillespie, Clark and some other guys in the mid and Howey and Pea**** in the back. (those were the days!). Now I am a team fanatic with each year's home kit, their scarf on my wall, and pics. All thanks to FIFA and EA!

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Shamir D. Kanji
Shamir@soccergaming.com

My first thing got got me interested in soccer was, (lol), Disney's Big Green (A movie) when I was around eight or nine. Then I rented FIFA 96(?) for my SNES and walked around the house quoting everything that the little bit of the announcer said in an English accent "That's a yellow card!", and "Corner Kick!". Were some of my favorites. I started playing soccer about a year later at age 11, thanks to my best friend who in invited me to try and play on his soccer team. I then was into FIFA 64 at my friends birthday party, and I remember wondering "What is Arsenal?". How foolish I was. And a year after that, they had try-outs for the team, and I made the team, and my friend - who had been there since he was 6 - was cut from the team. Ironic isn't it?

Later on in the summer of 98 I figured out their was a little more then just US soccer, I heard of the World Cup and what it was about. I then bought World Cup 98 for my N64. Then the summer later I bought FIFA 99 late, and at about the same time in the game, because of some of my heritage (being half german), and because I picked them in a game AND had an interest in the German language. Figured out the team names and played with Bayern Munich.

That late summer (99) I came from school and flipped on ESPN 2 and saw a Blue team versus a Red and Blue team. Later on I figured out who those teams were, Chelsea and Bayern Munich in a Champions League matchup. I joined Soccer Gaming about a month later in October (for the first time). And since that time in September until now, I know what the real "football" is. I'm the kid that walks down the hall every gameday over in Germany or in CL wearing his Bayern Munich T-shirts or jerseys. http://www.soccergaming.com/ubb/smile.gifAll this, because of this game series, a movie, and a friend. :-)


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Joe Lemon
joe@soccergaming.com

I am from Romania but I currently live in the US. I hate it here because of all this football nonsense. I hate this fake MLS crap and I ate this "football' that copied off rugby. Why do they call it football when you mostly use your hands?. I can hardly watch a real europen football gae now. I used to have Fox sports World but that's only on digital cable and it's too damn expensive.They don't have FSW on sattelite so I'm stuck watching ****ing baseball and football. I miss the good old times where I could go with my friends to a real football game and cheer my team on and have a SUPER FUN time. Now the closest stadium to me is like 60 miles away and the only games they play are baseball and football. I was just wondering how someone can watch MLS? I mean I once saw a game and there is no skill involved and every player looks like he's been druged. http://www.soccergaming.com/ubb/frown.gif

I guess I really became a fan in1986 watching the World Cup through static on a Mexican channel here in Colorado. After that was over I was hooked and would do everything I could to see matches or magazines with coverage of European soccer. It was rough for a guite a few years. There was absolutely nothing on TV and book stores would only occasionally carry World Soccer magazine and if so, the news was a month old. You have to remember that there was no such thing as the internet and ESPN shunned soccer like the majority of the population.

When FIFA came out for the Sega Genesis it was like a dream come true but I was already a fan! RThe highlight so far for me was seeing Lazio play Parma in Rome in May of 1999 on the last day of the season when they came sooo close to winning the Scudetto. The atmosphere was amazing. Something American sports can't even come close to!!!

Let's all be happy for the coverage we get because not so long ago there was hardly anything. By the way MLS is a disappointment and a waste of time.