Global: Tweeting the USA/England Match · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

As usual, the Twittersphere was abuzz during the final game of Saturday, June 12: the USA/England match.  The game was highly anticipated in the United States, where TV advertisements touted it as the “most anticipated” match of the World Cup, whereas across the pond in England, fans were nearly certain their team would win.  Despite the tension, however, the Twittersphere found time for some humor.
For example, syrianews, a British-Syrian, made it clear who he thought the winner might be:
I am going to be  quite delighted to see England embarrass the United States of America  tomorrow. That's ‘soccer’ I'm talking about.
As the game got going, Global Voices’ own 2010 Twitter account shared a fun fact about Team USA:
11 of the 23 players on the US team come from a home where at least 1 parent was born in a foreign country
Washington, D.C.-based Fadi Elsalameen, who was watching the game in public, quipped:
Where is the US offense ? A guy next to me yelled “In Iraq?”
Belgian/South African sisiwami noted, perhaps with pride, that everyone was watching South Africa:
so right now the whole of the USA and UK are staring at South Africa
Referencing the game of American football, Egyptian Alaa Abd El Fattah joked in response:
@khadijapatel @sisiwami yes bet the whole of USA keeps wondering when will they do a touch down
British James Cook referenced the recent BP oil spill, in this play on words:
Americans celebrate a British spill, for a change.
Belfast-based Keith Anderson also found a way to joke about the oil spill:
“hey england, your  goalie is as leaky as your oil rigs.” #worldcup  #usa  #eng  #ilovediggcomments
As the game ended, it was evident that American fans had–at least temporarily–found a new sport to love.  Laura Barr, based in Missouri, is waiting in anticipation for the next games:
#USA  has only played  one #WorldCup  game and  already my voice is shot. I fully expect to sound like a man the rest of  the tournament.