At the Mission Beach Soccer Celebration, in the festive heart of San Diego, there is no soccer-induced anxiety. What fills the air is the laid-back energy of a long, warm summer afternoon, the kind where everything seems perfectly arranged for a celebration. The occasion: a World Cup matchup between the United States and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
There are no anguished faces, no trace of the tragic mystique that often surrounds soccer in Latin America or Europe. Instead, there are beach chairs, the smoky aroma of burgers mingling with tacos, and coolers packed with ice-cold beer.
A massive screen, erected right on the sand, dominates the scene. In front of it stretches a sea of white jerseys. The numbers 7 and 8 — Gio Reyna and Weston McKennie — seem to be everywhere…