Above the Fold

A digital 'zine by Original Fuzz about creativity and making stuff.

★  Mar 29, 2024  ★

Music for American Soccer

Clint Dempsey rocks headphones as a part of his program ritual

As you might have heard, the World Cup is near, and our excitement at Original Fuzz has reached 11. So to commemorate the occasion we've made a pre-game playlist for the US Men's National Team. All songs were Made in U.S.A. except for the last track by Tim Maia. He's a Brazilian soul singer, and well, this World Cup is in Brazil.

This playlist is equally appropriate for an American Outlaws tailgate party or Clint Dempsey's headphones as he walks the field during his pre-game ritual. It's a combination pump-you-up-we-are-frickin-americans / good-vibes-party-music. That balance is key for peak performance in a soccer game. You need the adrenaline going while keeping your cool.

If you've been following our team, you might know that there's been a lot of talk about our need to develop a unique American style in order to succeed at the highest level. So, as US Soccer sorts that out, we wanted to remind them of a few things that were invented here in America: the electric guitar, Fender amps, blues, jazz, rock and roll, country, punk, and hip hop. Let's not let the EDM playing in your average Barcelona player's headphones water down our style. We need our own soundtrack. Lupe Fiasco as our official DJ is not going cut it.

With that said, I give you Music for American Soccer. If Original Fuzz was on our 23-man roster, this is the music that would get us ready to bust Ghana up. If the US style of play were set to music, this is how it would sound.

US World Cup team at an open training session

The US World Cup Team in Times Square

US World Cup team goes for a run on Jacksonville Beach

Kyle Beckerman during a training session for the 2014 World Cup