‘It’s Called Soccer!’ U.S. Fans Troll World Cup During Match Vs. England

American soccer fans trolled the World Cup during the U.S. Men’s National Team’s match against England.

Toward the end of the first half of the Group B matchup between the U.S. and England, fans in the stands erupted in chants of “it’s called soccer!” Videos from social media showed fans participating in the chant. American soccer fans used the chant to troll England on Twitter after the two countries played to a draw.

FOX Soccer shared a clip of the chant during the game.

🗣 IT’S CALLED SOCCER

Fans across the stadium break out in the chant pic.twitter.com/f51IFaccUR

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 25, 2022

Fans were also chanting the refrain outside of the stadium.

🗣 IT’S CALLED SOCCER@USMNT fans get the chant going ahead of their matchup with England pic.twitter.com/RUUAICbgyx

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 25, 2022

Even before the U.S. matched up with England, U.S. fans were trolling other countries. Fox Soccer shared a video of former NFL star Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson leading the chant at a watch party on Monday.

Snack giant FritoLay even stepped into the debate, producing a commercial about the “football” vs. “soccer” debate, directed by Michael Bay and starring NFL legend Peyton Manning, English soccer legend David Beckham, Mexican soccer player Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, and American soccer legends Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, Brandy Chastain, and Tim Howard.

Twitter users jumped on the bandwagon after the matchup ended in a draw.

“[I]t’s called soccer till y’all can beat us at the world cup,” entrepreneur and former The Athletic Soccer managing editor George Quraishi wrote on Twitter.

“[I]t’s still called soccer,” DraftKings sports book tweeted.

“It’s called soccer!!! 🤣🤣🤣” legendary former MLB pitcher C.C. Sabathia laughed.

“It’s called soccer now idc🤷🏿‍♂️🇺🇸,” wrote American soccer player Daryl Dike, who plays professionally for West Bromwich Albion of the English Football League

“IT’S CALLED SOCCER!!! 🗣🇺🇸” the Philadelphia Union tweeted.

Contrary to popular belief, the word “soccer” being used to describe the game otherwise known as football actually comes from England. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, students at the University of Oxford in the 1880s differentiated between association football and rugby football by calling association football “assoccer,” which was later shortened to “soccer.” But the nickname didn’t stick, and by the 20th century, rugby went from being called “rugger” to “rugby,” while association football became known as simply football.

When gridiron football emerged in the United States in the late 19th century, it quickly became known simply as football, and soccer was used to differentiate between the two sports. The organizing body of American association football became the United States Soccer Football Association in 1945, and later dropped “football” altogether.

Outside the U.S., association football is called “soccer” in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Canada, South Africa, and Ireland.

The U.S. and England dueled to a draw in their group stage matchup Friday. The game was defined by defense, as neither team was able to score a goal in a game that went into extra time, though Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie both took shots that hit the post outside the goal. The end result leaves the U.S. in third place in Group B, but the team could still find their way to a berth in the top 16 if they defeat Iran in the final game of the group stage on Tuesday.

England remains in first place in Group B, and can advance in the tournament by defeating Wales in the final game; they can still make the top 16 if they lose by less than 4 as well.

‘Liberal Bias’ Or ‘Cheney 2024’? J6 Staffers, Liz Cheney Trade Blows Over Final Committee Report

GOP Rep. Liz Cheney has drawn the ire of House January 6 Committee staffers over her influence on the final committee report expected out next month.

At least fifteen current and former members of the committee believe Cheney is manipulating the final report to place too much focus on former President Donald Trump while leaving other important information out, according to The Washington Post. Cheney’s office says that the staffers are wrong and that the information the Wyoming congresswoman is cutting out was rife with “liberal bias.”

One former committee staffer said that Cheney’s changes to the report were done chiefly for political reasons. Cheney’s focus on Trump is potentially coming at the cost of other committee research on law enforcement, militia groups, and financing, staffers complained.

“We all came from prestigious jobs, dropping what we were doing because we were told this would be an important fact-finding investigation that would inform the public,” the former staffer told WaPo. “But when [the committee] became a Cheney 2024 campaign, many of us became discouraged.”

Cheney spokesman Jeremy Adler said that the congresswoman is trying to protect the integrity of the committee’s work by cutting out “liberal bias” and narrative that has infected the committee’s investigative work and draft report.

“Donald Trump is the first president in American history to attempt to overturn an election and prevent the peaceful transfer of power,” Adler told WaPo in a statement. “So, damn right Liz is ‘prioritizing’ understanding what he did and how he did it and ensuring it never happens again.”

“Some staff have submitted subpar material for the report that reflects long-held liberal biases about federal law enforcement, Republicans, and sociological issues outside the scope of the Select Committee’s work,” Adler continued. “She won’t sign onto any ‘narrative’ that suggests Republicans are inherently racist or smears men and women in law enforcement, or suggests every American who believes God has blessed America is a white supremacist.”

January 6 Committee spokesman Tim Mulvey sided with Cheney in a statement, saying the committee’s “historic, bipartisan fact-finding effort speaks for itself, and that won’t be changed by a handful of disgruntled staff who are uninformed about many parts of the committee’s ongoing work.”

Cheney lost her primary for reelection to the Trump-backed Harriet Hageman earlier this year. Hageman went on to win the election to Cheney’s Wyoming congressional seat with nearly 70% of the vote. Cheney is reportedly eyeing a return to political office with a 2024 presidential run.

The final report on the January 6 Committee’s investigation into the riot at the U.S. Capitol is reportedly to span about 1,000 pages, according to Axios. The committee’s publicized hearings, in which Trump was a major focus, took place over the course of the summer as the Republican and Democratic parties battled for control of Congress next year. Trump has criticized the committee’s investigation into him as a politically-driven “witch hunt of the highest level.”

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