USA Finds Copa Nirvana in Seattle

Back in 1997, when Paul Allen stepped up to keep carpetbagging owner Ken Behring from moving the Seattle Seahawks to Los Angeles, he had one main condition:

The public had to agree to fund a portion of a new football stadium to replace the Kingdome.

Seattle wasn't any more excited about funding billionaires' playpens than other cities, so the strategy was to do all artists' renderings of the new facility featuring soccer players instead.

It worked. And Century Link Field came to be.

The Seahawks ultimately did all right, but an interesting development occurred along the way.

MLS came to Seattle, and the city went bonkers for it.

That's been a scene for every game since.

It's why dudes like Clint Dempsey find their way to the squad.

And despite shamelessly gouged ticket prices, a crowd of 47,322 sucked it up to spur the USA in the Copa América quarterfinals.

With the fans doing their part, Team USA kept it going on the field:

Those suspensions won't exactly help the American cause against either Argentina or Venezuela in the semifinals.

• Jermaine Jones has been nails in Klinsmann's system;
• Bobby Wood has been a revelation in this tournament, with Dempsey finding more space as a result; and
• Alejandro Bedoya has done yeoman's work, but there's a host of yeomen on Klinsmann's bench.

Still, they're in with a shout.

Which is what's to be expected from soccer in Seattle.