Has football fever taken hold in the US?

John Bennett: Slowly but surely you could tell that the World Cup was capturing the imagination in New York. I went to an event for football fans in Harlem in week one of the tournament and it was packed with people who lived in the USA but were originally from one of the World Cup nations or had family history from one of the teams taking part. It brought home how big a part diaspora fans were going to play in the tournament and how much excitement and atmosphere that was going to create in the stadiums and the streets. I remember walking to an interview through Greenwich village and I saw a group of construction workers and businessmen who'd stopped on the pavement outside a bar because something had caught their eye on one of the TV screens inside. What was it? The final stages of Cape Verde's heroic 0-0 draw with Spain. World Cup fever was here. Ian Dennis: It changed for me when I went to Atlanta. That's when it felt more like a World Cup with supporters from different countries mingling together with a vibrant fan fest at the heart of downtown Atlanta. What also struck me inside the stadium in Atlanta is American fans following a country but they're not actual supporters. For instance, the majority of the crowd wore red when Spain played Saudi Arabia but they were not Spanish and as a result the atmosphere was lacking. Liz Conway: My opinion has completely changed. World Cup fever has well and truly arrived in the United States. …