By Tom deignan

IRELAND’S run during the 2002 World Cup was a wild one, but my most vivid Irish World Cup memory has to go back to 1994 when Ireland beat Italy 1 - 0 at Giants Stadium.

Why? Well, that requires a little background. First and foremost, the corner of New York City where I have chosen to live is Staten Island, where there are a lot of Irish Americans but a whole lot more Italian Americans.

With the Italians heavily favored going into the match, and with Ireland scoring early, the only thing greater than the shock was the elongated joy as the minutes and then the seconds drifted away.

I still remember the date of the game - June 18 - because that was also the date my father passed away, two years earlier. In fairness, I don’t think my Dad ever watched a soccer (OK, I’ll call it football from now on) match in his life, outside of my grammar school games for Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic school.

But I can be forgiven, on that particularly day, for wallowing in some ethnic pride. Do I have any such memories at all regarding the U.S. soccer team? Trust me, I am not one of these Irish Americans who likes to go around proclaiming to be more Irish than American. Neither am I one of these Americans who actively disdain soccer. I love the damn sport.

Not long ago the Fox Soccer Channel was added to my cable system and every Saturday morning I battle with my two older children who want to watch cartoons, while I’m hoping to catch a Liverpool match.

The fact of the matter, however, is that I am in the distinct minority, even among Irish Americans.

Nothing says this more than the American’s disgraceful showing in Germany this year. What did they score, one goal on their own in three matches? I believe they got fewer than five shots on goal over the course of 270 minutes of football.

If the U.S. basketball team showed up at the Olympics with comparable stats it would be considered a national tragedy.

But the fact is, not many Americans even care that the U.S. football showing at the World Cup was a debacle.

To wit, when the U.S. was still alive and (barely) kicking, I was talking with some friends during our weekly softball game. Mostly Irish Americans these guys are. Only one was aware that Ireland had not qualified for the Cup, and all said that they could not care less about the U.S. showing.

They were actually more interested in the Stanley Cup hockey finals.

Meanwhile, the public high school where I work provided a different perspective. Some fellow teachers were mildly interested, however, the most passionate Cup watchers were admitted left-wingers who were glad for any reason to root against America.

True, on Staten Island, the local daily newspaper did run one feature story about how Italian Americans were divided going into the U.S.-Italy match, the one which turned into a rather ugly, though somewhat gutsy, 1-1 draw.

The real story, however, was not about divided loyalty. The real story was that most Americans - Italian, Irish or otherwise - didn’t care about the game in the first place.

It remains a puzzling question: Why don’t the Yanks like their football? For the Irish (and a handful of Irish Americans), not making it to Germany this year was brutal. If the Americans had not made it to the World Cup, few people on this side of the Atlantic would have cared.

Is football too boring for Americans? Well, I’m also a baseball fan, but even I can admit that baseball can be painfully dull at times.

I have two theories. I think Americans do have problems with draws, which are how far too many football matches end. To play 90 minutes and look at the scoreboard and see 0 - 0, though it may have been a beautiful game is very frustrating and very un-American.

And then there’s the name itself. Is it football or soccer? See, we already have football over here, a highly-mechanized impersonal Sunday ritual which also just happens to be the most wildly popular event in American culture.

Americans look at what passes for football in every other country around the world and I think it all gets too confusing. We already have at least four major sports leagues to follow over here. Who needs another?

Soccer was supposed to break through when the U.S. got the World Cup in 1994. Then when Major League Soccer formed.

Maybe Freddy Adu will elevate the game when he leads to U.S. to South Africa in 2010. Maybe not. Let’s at least hope he outscores the entire 2006 U.S. squad.

Contact Sidewalks at tomdeignan@earthlink.net.