The Algeria national soccer team has unexpectedly galvanized the college town of Lawrence, Kansas, establishing a deeply supportive community bond at their World Cup base camp ahead of an upcoming match against Argentina on Tuesday.
As reported by The Guardian, local organizers and residents in the city of nearly 100,000 people accommodated the team at a local hotel and organized multiple community welcomes to embrace the international squad.
Community Welcomes and Coach's Reaction
“Seeing five to six hundred people that first evening, fans that were waiting outside our hotel, it really gave me goosebumps,” said Valdimir Petković, Algeria head coach.
The head coach noted that numerous American citizens wore team scarves and showed immense enthusiasm to share the experience with the roster during their scheduled public events.
“We saw that there were so many US citizens who had scarves for us,” said Petković.
“They showed so much support, and they really wanted to celebrate this moment with our team.”
Petković expressed hope that the squad would perform admirably on and off the field to return the goodwill shown by the Kansas community.
“I hope that we can behave in the right way in terms of the way that we conduct ourselves on and off the pitch, that we can certainly give a positive response to absolutely everyone,” said Petković.
“But, I hope that we can make it through to the knockout stage and maybe everyone from Kansas can travel with us to another city.”
Local artist Stan Herd explained that the community proactively prepared for the arrival since the official announcement in April to ensure the foreign squad felt entirely welcome.
“I think everybody’s surprised at it,” said Herd. “We’re not.”
Herd credited a University of Kansas student named Sajedah for utilizing social media platforms to mobilize the regional Algerian diaspora and organize major welcome gatherings.
“Make sure you mention Sajedah,” said Herd. “She’s the one who reached 70,000 Algerians [via social media].
She’s a University of Kansas student, and she made this happen.”
Herd added that the inclusive culture of Lawrence makes its residents highly receptive to embracing new cultural experiences and international visitors.
“There’s a lot of unnecessary anger at people who don’t look like us, and pray like us, and walk like us, and cheer like us,” said Herd.
“In Lawrence, we are wide open to embracing something new. That’s the difference.”
Local resident Aaron Downey attended the team events alongside his brother Ethan, where they interacted directly with the athletes and Algerian organizers.
“We as Lawrence residents didn’t adopt the team,” said Aaron. “I think the Algerians adopted us.
They brought all the vibes, the culture, the acceptance, to the residents of Lawrence. I think that’s what made us so close and made this what it is.”
The upcoming group match takes place at Kansas City Stadium, where the Algeria national soccer team enters the contest as underdogs against Argentina.
