The US soccer team’s home opener in the World Cup on Friday brought more than 70,000 passionate soccer enthusiasts to the massive stadium near Los Angeles, where they saw the US beat Paraguay 4-1.

A Growing Sport

Soccer has long been overshadowed by football, basketball, and baseball in the United States. However, its popularity has risen since the country last hosted the World Cup in 1994. Major League Soccer was launched two years later, and soccer has become especially popular among young athletes.

Many fans said they grew up playing soccer in recreational leagues as young children, and well into high school and college. Nakisha Gutierrez, a 37-year-old occupational therapist from Los Angeles, and her sister both played the sport. Their Argentine father raised them on soccer, and the next generation is now taking it up, too, she said.

Interest has also been buoyed by immigrants from countries where, as Gutierrez puts it, “soccer is life.”

A Family Affair

Samuel Esquivel, 9, said he was screaming when the match ended. “That was probably, like, the second best goal,” he said of Reyna’s shot. He started playing soccer last year and said he already wants to win a World Cup.

His father Roman Esquivel said they came from a family that played football, basketball, and baseball. But Esquivel’s daughter and son both fell in love with soccer, and their enthusiasm for the game has spread to him as well.

Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.