The world's largest sporting event is set to kick off this week and I could not be more excited. The 2014 FIFA World Cup proves to be the most "social" event ever as billions of people around the globe get ready to cheer on their country's efforts to bring home the World Cup Trophy. In fact, half of everyone in the world at some point will watch this World Cup.
This year's United States soccer team has been in the news for all the wrong reasons heading into the global event. First, star player Landon Donovan was left off the roster and then earlier this week, coach Jürgen Klinsmann said that the U.S. team had no hope to win this World Cup. Not to mention the civil unrest that is taking place in Brazil over the rising costs and worker safety. However, all this bad news won't stop America's growing fan base of rabid soccer fans from cheering on the Red, White and Blue.
The World Cup will draw the attention of media cameras from all over the world, but you might find it's more fun to see the World Cup through the eyes of the players via their social media accounts. Remember all of the great behind-the-scenes images and stories from the U.S. Winter Olympics Delegation?
Below is a list of the 23-man roster and links to their available Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Vine, Wikipedia, Google+ and official websites.
The Shots on Social:
- All players except one (Michael Bradley) have Twitter accounts
- Only four players have a presnce on Vine (Omar Gonzalez, DeAndre Yedlin, Graham Zusi & JozyAltidore)
- Of the four players with traditional websites, only Kyle Beckerman has a blog
- Jozy Altidore is the only player with a YouTube channel or Google+account
- And, Altidore is the only player to have a social presence on all of the social networks reviewed
U.S. Roster | Wikipedia | Official Website | |||
Brad Guzan | - | - | |||
Tim Howard | - | ||||
Nick Rimando | - | - | - | ||
DaMarcus Beasley | - | ||||
Matt Besler | - | ||||
John Brooks | - | - | - | ||
Geoff Cameron | |||||
Timmy Chandler | - | - | |||
Omar Gonzalez | - | ||||
Fabian Johnson | - | - | |||
DeAndre Yedlin | - | ||||
Kyle Beckerman | |||||
Alejandro Bedoya | - | ||||
Michael Bradley | - | - | - | - | |
Brad Davis | - | - | |||
Mix Diskerud | - | ||||
Julian Green | - | - | - | ||
Jermaine Jones | |||||
Graham Zusi | - | ||||
Jozy Altidore | |||||
Clint Dempsey | Clint Dempsey | - | |||
Aron Johannsson | - | Aron Johannsson | - | ||
Chris Wondolowski | - | - |
*Social media accounts were found using a Google Search for the player's name and the associated social network or online property.