The limitations of the “special relationship” were on display during England’s first round World Cup game with USA, as soccer fans in New York grappled with split allegiances to European club sports and the US national team.
In the end, a nil-nil result proved little – except that the outcome is profoundly un-American. “A tie is like kissing your sister,” said David Dunbar, a professor of New York history at Columbia University. “In America, you’ve got to win. We don’t do well with dichotomies, and ambiguity is a bad word – it makes us worried.”
