"It is the Lawrence spirit of welcoming people, and we are just excited to have this team here.
I think that they have landed in the best city and we are their number one fans right now," Anspach said.
For the Algerian diaspora living in the United States, the team's presence provided a rare opportunity to connect with their heritage directly in their local area.
Ziri Abba, an Algerian native living in the U. S.
, said, "It's a pleasure. It's been a while waiting for this moment."
Abba noted that the tournament schedule reversed his family's usual summer travel patterns.
"Every summer we try to go back to visit family, and the funny thing this year, they're the ones who are coming here to visit us.
So, it's a pleasure for us," he said.
He expressed pride in being able to share the sporting event with his American-born children.
The emotional impact of the national team training in Kansas was a central theme for many long-term supporters.
"It's hard to find the word to describe it," Abba said.
Local youth soccer players who participated in the skills clinic following the main training session also shared their experiences.
Robert Curran, a youth clinic attendee, said, "It was very exciting. I've never experienced this before, because last time it was during COVID."
Participants noted that the close proximity to international professional players made the event unique.
Sam Reza, another youth attendee, said, "You could see the players, and if you got lucky, you could actually be with them."
Algeria enters the tournament following recent victories against Bolivia and the Netherlands.
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Their Group Stage schedule includes matches against Argentina on June 16 in Kansas City, Jordan on June 22 in San Francisco, and Austria on June 27 in Kansas City.
