World Cup fever grips Pacific Northwest

Jaysen Dickinson flew to Seattle from Vermont to cross an item off his lengthy bucket list.

- By KEVIN BAXTER

LINDSEY WASSON Associated Press FANS OF TEAM USA walk outside Lumen Field before the World Cup game Friday against Australia. The U.S. was the victor, 2-0.

“To see the World Cup and the U.S. play in the World Cup,” he said.

Kim Fletcher and her 17-year-old son, Kelan, caught a 5 a.m. flight from Sacramento last week for the same reason.

“It’s a must-do right now,” she said.

They weren’t alone. Tens of thousands of people poured into Seattle on Friday morning for the U.S. team’s group-stage game with Australia, turning the Emerald City into a sea of red, white and blue. Some had tickets, most did not.

But who needed a ticket? More than 66,000 people filled Lumen Field in Seattle’s SoDo district, but thousands more simply stood in the streets surrounding the stadium to soak up the energy.

“It’s electric,” said Fletcher, whose son wore an American flag as a cape beneath a tricornered colonial hat. Another man was dressed in overalls in star spangled colors while one couple wore large and seemingly uncomfortable bald eagle heads, topped by red, white and blue cloth stovepipe hats.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said one fan, who has been attending sporting events in the city for more than seven decades.

If this World Cup has been marred by astronomical ticket prices and an opaque system for selling them, resulting in large swaths of vacant seats visible on telecasts from Guadalajara, Santa Clara and Miami Gardens, that hasn’t put a damper on the tournament in the Pacific Northwest. Los Angeles is far from the only city with World Cup fever.

LINDSEY WASSON Associated Press U.S. and Australia fans greet each other Friday en route to the stadium for the teams' game in Seattle.