New York (AFP) – The World Cup carnival arrived in New York on Saturday, but it was drowned out by the city’s fervor over the hometown Knicks and the possibility of bringing an NBA title to the Big Apple. The 2026 World Cup debut of five-time winners Brazil, who ground out an uninspiring 1-1 draw against Morocco, was overshadowed by the Knicks’ NBA Finals face-off against the San Antonio Spurs.
“I am not a soccer fan so it’s definitely all about the Knicks today. But the World Cup is very cool,” said David Rodriguez, 36, watching football at The Rutherford bar near the home of the Knicks, Madison Square Garden. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of football fans streamed through nearby Penn Station on their way to MetLife Stadium for Brazil-Morocco. Morten Vold, 37, wore the Selecao’s yellow and green as he headed to the station that was swarming with troops and police, praising the preparations for the influx of World Cup visitors.
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New York’s transit app had a video explaining how to make the trip, said Vold, from Bergen, Norway, though he called the $98 roundtrip ticket “insane compared to what it costs normally.” Outside of this island of football in Manhattan, New York was a sea of Knicks orange and blue as the team closed in on what will be their first title in 53 years if they win Saturday night’s clash in Texas. “As soon as the Knicks are over, it’s going to be about football,” said David McNamara, manager of The Rutherford bar who said he was showing World Cup fixtures Saturday.
Hundreds of thousands of Knicks fans descended on the neighborhood and bars across the city to collectively cheer on their team, which holds a 3-1 lead in the finals series. McNamara said he would definitely screen the Knicks — “otherwise we’d have a riot.” At Echo Bravo bar in Brooklyn, Knicks fans gossiped, played Uno, and looked at their phones through the Brazil-Morocco tie. “Do you still wanna watch the (Knicks)?” asked a barman, changing the channel from football to basketball.
– No ‘big buzz’ –
In an industrial section of Brooklyn, the manager of an indoor five-a-side arena said that “obviously the Knicks, as they should, are over-shining” the World Cup. “Basketball is so beloved in the city of New York,” 24-year-old Lucas Matuszewski explained. “Scotland are playing around the same time as the Knicks. We’ll probably miss it but we’ll keep an eye on the score,” said Aidan Smith, 29, communications manager at a Scottish football club who wore both a Knicks hat and his full national strip. “I’ve not really seen a lot (of World Cup fever). I’ve seen a few fellow Scots but we’re not seeing a big buzz for it yet.”
There were signs that businesses were expecting a delayed onset of football mania. “I do think it’s going to get hectic and crazy without a doubt, and especially at this pub, because we’re a football pub,” said Vanessa Whalen, owner of the Black Bull in Brooklyn. New York was a hive of activity on Saturday night, even more so than usual for the city that never sleeps: football fans will arrive back in midtown Manhattan just in time to run into Knicks viewing parties, including one outside Madison Square Garden, and partygoers for the city’s famed Puerto Rican Day parade on Sunday.
© 2024 AFP
