The World Cup is coming to Florida.
Well, not necessarily the FIFA World Cup, but a couple of the participants who appeared for the England National Team in the 2014 event in Brazil will be in St. Petersburg from July 15-21 at Eckerd College as a part of a national soccer coaching clinic run by the English Premier League club West Bromwich Albion.
Elite soccer players between eight will have the chance to be instructed by West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Ben Foster, who played 90 minutes for England in the scoreless draw with Costa rica at the World Cup this year and became the only England goalkeeper never to allow a goal in World Cup action. In addition, campers will be guided by England manager Roy Hodgson, who coached West Bromwich Albion to a top ten finish in the English Premier League in 2012, before taking over as the national team coach.
A last-minute offer has been extended to local players interested in the camp with a discounted rate of $189 for the week-long session and $39 for the daily session. According to West Brom Senior Development Officer Dave Lawrence, this is an opportunity that does not come around often.
"There has been a buzz in England about how interest in the World Cup has gripped the United States like never before, so we are excited to be holding our soccer camps on the crest of that wave," said Lawrence, who will lead Albion's U.S. venture. "We hope young athletes who now dream of being on that world stage themselves will show off their talents and take a step towards becoming a professional soccer player. Those who sign up will experience a different style of coaching. We've put together some fantastic schemes to give an insight into the skills you need to be a top professional and on top of that, everyone will have a great time."
While England failed to make it out of the group stage, the World Cup had quite the effect on the world as usual, but even more so on the United States. The U.S. led the countries buzzing about the World Cup on Facebook during the World Cup final this past Sunday when Germany beat Argentina 1-0.
Facebook released a statement on Monday that said more than 88 million users in the world made 280 million posts, likes and comments during the final, which broke the prior record of 245 million set during the 2013 Super Bowl. The countries that followed the U.S. in order were Brazil, Argentina, Germany, and Indonesia, according to the company.
The World Cup final also set a record on Twitter with a new global record of 618,725 tweets per minute, besting the 580,166 set during Germany's 7-1 dismantling of Brazil in the semifinals.
Read full details here.
Full details of Albion's U.S. Soccer Resume camps and registration information are available at ussoccerresume.com and can be followed on Twitter @USSoccerResume and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ussoccerresume.