00:00South Africa is going to face Canada today in the World Cup's first knockout stage match in L.A.
00:05But one of the biggest stories of this North American tournament is the cultural influx in American cities, particularly in
00:12Boston.
00:13From Scots to Haitians, Boston has been a hot spot for memorable moments.
00:16We are joined now by Boston Globe's Emily Sweeney.
00:19Emily, great to have you back with us once again.
00:21I was in the greater Boston area last week.
00:23I was in Cambridge, and someone with whom I spoke said,
00:25the thing to get are these fan bands.
00:28They were talking about going down to the common, to the garden.
00:30These are like bracelets.
00:31You can get them that have kind of site-specific accoutrement.
00:36What's the flavor been like in Boston?
00:38The Scots have left, but this is still a world of a obsessed city.
00:44Well, I got to say, you know, Boston really misses the Scots.
00:47You know what I mean?
00:48It's amazing to see there's still traffic cones on statues' heads that are appearing.
00:54You know, the Tatnami started that tradition,
00:56and I think that tradition with the traffic cones going on statues' heads is going to continue,
01:00at least from what I've seen.
01:04That's tartan and not taunting the city in Massachusetts.
01:07I just want to be very clear about that.
01:08I feel like I have to make that a toy.
01:10Yes, okay.
01:11All right.
01:11Don't let him give you shade.
01:12We've got, for our video viewers, we've got my favorite cone video,
01:17which I requested from our producer,
01:19is where the city of Boston seemed really down with this
01:22and let them use a cherry picker so that they could cone a statue
01:26that would have been otherwise out of reach.
01:29And this is like, I don't know, they do this in Scotland.
01:32Why is it happening?
01:33Why is it happening?
01:34I don't know.
01:35Emily, do you know?
01:36Well, you know, I mean,
01:37there was like estimated to be about 50,000 Scottish folks who visited Boston.
01:43And again, nobody was prepared for the traffic cone trick
01:46to be suddenly appearing on everybody from like, you know,
01:51you know, Bobby Orr right in front of the Boston Garden.
01:53I got a photo of that.
01:54Somebody put a cone on his head.
01:55He looked great, like diving after making his goal.
01:58Looked better than ever.
02:00But yeah, no, I mean,
02:02the Scots really made an impact here.
02:04And, you know, a lot of other people that local fans,
02:06like a cheering on Haiti, Cape Verde,
02:09obviously making it to the knockout round is huge.
02:12People are going crazy about that.
02:13I'm so excited.
02:14I can ask you, Emily.
02:15So you mentioned the Scots, okay?
02:17So Boston, you think St. Patrick's Day,
02:19that's a big drinking day, okay?
02:21But the Scots outdrank this.
02:24I mean, did you party with these guys or what?
02:27They literally drank Boston out of beer.
02:29Well, you know, you couldn't walk out of the Globe newsroom.
02:32There were just kilts everywhere on the streets of Boston.
02:34Seriously, I've never seen so many kilts in my life.
02:37And, you know, everybody I spoke to from Scotland was just so friendly,
02:42so cool, so nice.
02:44And the bars, like, you know, there were lines out the door.
02:46I was walking to work in the morning,
02:48and there literally were lines, like, to get into the bars,
02:52you know, full of Scottish fans.
02:53But, you know, everything was really cool because as much as they drink,
02:57you know, it was very peaceful.
02:59No fighting or anything like that.
03:00Just a lot of good fun, a lot of good vibes.
03:03And, like I said, all the Scottish people I talked to were so cool and so nice.
03:07A lot of good kilts as well.
03:08I understand your mayor is going to formalize this.
03:10Michelle Wu has formalized this kind of relationship between Bostonians and the Scots.
03:14Tell us a bit about that.
03:15Yeah.
03:16So there was an announcement made about being, like, a sister city of sorts,
03:20like a formal partnership with the city of Glasgow.
03:22And I know personally my friends who are now planning trips to Scotland to visit,
03:28like, you know, people that weren't even thinking about going on vacation there.
03:31So, you know, it was really cool.
03:33I think, you know, I witnessed history getting made, like, on the streets of Boston.
03:36I've never heard so much singing in my life on the streets of Boston.
03:40And now it's a little bit quieter now, now that the Scots have left.
03:45You mentioned, I will say, they did go to Miami and try the traffic cone trick.
03:50And the Miami-Dade police were not into it.
03:52It was not allowed.
03:54You mentioned the Scots.
03:55You mentioned the Haitians, Cape Verde.
03:57But there is another fan headed your way.
04:00This is this viral Twitter star, Freddie.
04:03He's been tweeting his adventures in America.
04:06He's gotten, everyone is following him, just a joyous trip through our nation.
04:10What does Boston have in store?
04:12What do you expect with the German fans coming to town?
04:15Yeah, well, you know, I wish I knew what Freddie looked like.
04:18You don't, where you have pictures now, and he's got little smiley faces on his friends,
04:23and he puts different soccer players in front of his face, yeah.
04:26Yeah, last I saw, he was in a gunkwit, which I got to say, hands down,
04:29it's like my favorite beach in New England.
04:30He picked a good one.
04:32But, yeah, we're hoping Freddie comes down.
04:34And we're just hoping everybody has a good time.
04:36And that's what's been happening.
04:38I mean, I think Boston wasn't prepared for how much fun the World Cup has been.
04:42And, you know, I think we're embracing it.
04:44So we're looking forward to it.
04:46Emily, what do you think about Team USA?
04:48Do we have a chance?
04:49I mean, you seem to be the World Cup know-how.
04:52Tell us.
04:53Yeah.
04:54Well, you know, I, like, Cape Verde, like, has my heart, I got to say.
04:58I don't want to sound like a traitor.
04:59But, you know, Team USA made it to the knockout round, too.
05:02I mean, I'm looking forward to watching them on Wednesday.
05:05I think, you know, it's going to be interesting to see what happens next, you know, with the slate of
05:11teams that they're going to be facing.
05:12But making it to the knockout round in the World Cup is huge.
05:15So for Team USA and for, like, a small country like Cape Verde, oh, my God.
05:20And with Cape Verde, it being their first time ever.
05:23So I got, like, two teams I'm going to be rooting for, for sure.
05:25Very quickly here, we're complaining a lot about traffic and all the transportation issues here in New York.
05:30It's been rough in New York.
05:30How's Boston been handling it?
05:31How's that trek out to Foxborough been for folks?
05:35You know, the first trips, you know, when I was talking to people who went out to Gillette Stadium, a
05:40.k.a. Boston Stadium, were, you know, there were really long lines, you know.
05:45But, I mean, those lines were there, you know, to make sure the flow of people, they wouldn't get, like,
05:49bottlenecked.
05:51But from what I've heard, like, it got better as, like, the week went, as the games went on.
05:56So, you know, I think the first ones, people had to wait a long time.
05:59But, you know, other than that, there weren't any major issues that I've heard of.
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