John M Sloop, Vanderbilt University Soccer fans turn their eyes to Qatar for this week's World Cup. But in the U.S., the question of which team is cheered on from afar isn’t entirely straightforward. You see, one of the anomalies of being a “typical” soccer fan in the United States – a group to which I belong – is that, you are not, in fact, a “typical” soccer fan. For many team’s supporters, the World Cup becomes an event to affirm one’s national identity.