Today was an great day to be an American soccer fan in Paris.  Alright, probably any day is a good day to be an American soccer fan in Paris but today was a special one.

For me personally, today provided a chance to enjoy Father’s Day with my oldest daughter Sally.  We had a great time meeting new people, reconnecting with others, exploring new sights and celebrating the wonderful game of soccer that has provided our family with so many amazing memories.

The weather was beautiful.  Most of us showed up in shorts and t-shirts or USA jerseys, enjoying the sun and warm weather.

The sights were amazing.  Paris has so much to offer and as fans wandered throughout the major sights of the city, it was difficult not to cross paths with fans wearing stars and stripes.

The Parc de Prince stadium was sold out, with an announced crowd of 45, 594.  It’s tough to estimate how many American fans were in attendance, but my best guess is approximately 30,000-35,000 were cheering for the US team.  Chile traveled well and I think the French fans, although intrigued by the US team, seemed to pull for Chile today.

The vibe in the stadium was mixed.  There were equal parts energy and excitement combined with a little bit of chill.  The energy and excitement of course came from being there, in Paris, with so many other American fans.  It really doesn’t get any better than that.  The chill was partly due to the relaxing warm weather and also due to the game.  It was tense for a second, and then quickly seemed to be in control when Carli Lloyd scored in the 11th minute.  Had Chile threatened (they didn’t), fans might have shifted to the edges of their seats, but instead they sat back and relaxed with little drama.

I know many fans wanted and expected to see the stars of the team play, but instead needed a roster to identify lesser known names.  I’m sure some fans understand squad rotation better than others, with the goal of keeping players fresh for what hopefully will be a long run in the tournament.  But for those who don’t understand or that only had one chance to see the team play, it was hard not for them to feel disappointed.

The game itself was good but not great.  Understandably, US team put in a relatively business-like effort for the win, while fielding seven players that didn’t start against Thailand.  But who are we kidding…we picked up a dominating 3-0 win to secure a spot in the knockout round and gave ourselves a chance to win the group with a win or tie against Sweden.

In the end, the result was great.  Had it not been for the Chilean goalkeeper, the US could have won by six or seven goals.  Chile is competing in their first World Cup, so it is important to keep things in perspective, but a convincing World Cup win is a convincing World Cup win.

What does all of this mean?

We will find out against Sweden this week, in the first real test of the World Cup.

A few images from the day…