There might not be the street festivals, the legions of chanting fans or the rows of flag-draped cars seen in other countries, but pockets of Myrtle Beach are catching football fever - and it has nothing to do with pigskin.

With the 18th World Cup in full swing, fans across the Grand Strand are caught up in the monthlong, quadrennial tournament. Team USA kicks off its championship quest today with a noon game against the Czech Republic.

"There is more interest in this cup than ever before here," said Ansel Lovell, owner of Soccer Locker on South Kings Highway and a local soccer booster. "There's a buzz."

Soccer, the most popular youth sport nationwide, has attracted more than 700 3- to 14-year-olds to the Grand Strand Family YMCA's league, executive director Matt Dempski said.

Geri Himmelsbach, who has coached soccer locally for 23 years, got a kick out of coordinating a small-scale World Cup during a four-day sports camp at St. Michael Catholic School in Garden City Beach where she is a gym teacher.

Memo Suarez of Surfside Beach said he tries to get the players he coaches at Socastee High School and in the Coast Soccer Club to be passionate about the professional version.

"We encourage kids to watch the World Cup," he said Friday as he watched Ecuador on its way to its 2-0 victory over Poland. "They should be able to recognize a lot of the plays."

Lopez Sanchez, a personality for the Hispanic radio station La Que Buena 93.5, said that for people from his native Mexico, soccer is part of their national pride.

The Mexican restaurant El Patio on U.S. 501 was packed Sunday with people watching Mexico plow through Iran 3-1 - even the waitstaff wore green shirts to help cheer along the players.

A handful of British transplants showed up at 9 a.m. Saturday morning at Handley's Pub and Grub, some with faces painted, to catch England's 1-0 victory over Paraguay and to try to re-create the madness they experience at home.

"It's a poor substitution," said Mark Burlyn, 32, of England, sipping the last of his beer at 11 a.m. after the game. "America hypes it as best they can, but there's no comparison."

After the USA women's team dominated their 1999 World Cup, the number of girls playing soccer shot up exponentially, said Dorothy Schmalz, an assistant professor at Clemson's parks, recreation and tourism management department.

But she said she does not believe a U.S. men's victory would substantially increase the number of fans of professional soccer in the United States.

"I don't know if there's room for another men's sport," Schmalz said. "There's so much competition for media time and sand between football, baseball, hockey and basketball."

Lovell agrees, despite the enclaves of enthusiasts here. "It'll never replace Friday night football or collegiate football, but it has its place," Lovell said.

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