Source: Politics<\/p>\n
PHILADELPHIA \u2014 Josh Shapiro\u2019s black SUV deposited him at a bougie cafe earlier this week, and the governor beelined to a backroom full of handpicked World Cup social media influencers and began working the room.<\/p>\n
For roughly an hour, the Pennsylvania governor and potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate worked to build relationships with people who could cast this host city \u2014 and, one day, his potential candidacy? \u2014 in a positive light. He regaled them with personal anecdotes, waxing eloquent about how the former NBA star turned TV analyst Charles Barkley had said nice things<\/a> about him, how he once got Jerry Seinfeld to laugh at one of his jokes and how Philadelphia would play host to UFC 330. (\u201cI am not putting a claw on the governor\u2019s residence lawn,\u201d Shapiro joked. \u201cWe\u2019re going to do it in a proper venue.\u201d)<\/p>\n But what the governor, wearing a navy U.S. Men\u2019s National Team polo and FIFA-themed Adidas Stan Smiths, really wanted to talk about was the World Cup.<\/p>\n \u201cI don’t know that we’re gonna make a run all the way to the end here, but there’s something really exciting \u2014 I mean people who don\u2019t know anything about soccer are tuning in and watching and getting pumped up,\u201d Shapiro told them. \u201cI think sports is an amazing thing, and it has the effect of changing the psychology of the entire city.\u201d<\/p>\n Shapiro, more a Sixers than a Philadelphia Union guy, is among those recent converts to the world\u2019s game. As of this week, he\u2019s been to three matches at Lincoln Financial Field \u2014 more than any other potential 2028<\/a> presidential candidate. Save New York City\u2019s Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has blitzed soccer media to chat about arcane ball knowledge such as being \u201cpersonally affected when Championship Manager became Football Manager,\u201d perhaps no other Democratic politician has so fully embraced the tournament. (Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas may also have a claim.)<\/p>\n \u201cI’m especially proud to see people from all across the world coming here to Philadelphia and being greeted not just by a governor who’s happy they’re here, but by Philadelphians and Pennsylvanians who are thrilled to see them here,\u201d Shapiro told me in an interview. I think we are better than [President] Donald Trump’s cruel rhetoric. We are better than his cruel policies, and I think we’re seeing that on display here during the World Cup in Philly.\u201d<\/p>\n Shapiro\u2019s approach to the tournament could pay political dividends for him. \u201cThe U.S. team is kicking ass. And Trump is ignoring it,\u201d said Matt Bennett of the center-left think tank Third Way. \u201cDemocrats should own it all \u2014 go to games, watch them in bars with fans, brag about our team, hang out with the Scots. Show the country that we\u2019re normal, patriotic and fun-loving.\u201d<\/p>\n After breakfast with the influencers, Shapiro made his way to the official FIFA Fan Festival at Fairmount Park\u2019s Lemon Hill, and fist-bumped lines of volunteers. He darted over to a fan zone area where he assembled a collectible Bank of America Fan Band<\/a>, selecting charms that would spell out “250” for the Semiquincentennial.<\/p>\n In nearly every interaction, he conducted an informal poll on who revelers thought was the tournament\u2019s greatest player, namechecking Argentinian and French maestros.<\/p>\n \u201c[Lionel] Messi or [Kylian] Mbapp\u00e9?\u201d he\u2019d ask. It is, one of his staffers told me, a tic he has, a way to put people on the spot and also gather intel.<\/p>\n Next, he went over to a makeshift arcade featuring a video game called Soccer Jawn \u2014 a homage to the old Atari Pong \u2014 posing for selfies along the way. He took the controls of the game and rotated through several new acquaintances and opponents: a staffer, then a kid visiting from Virginia. His father, who said he was a fan of Shapiro, watched.<\/p>\n \u201cWho do you think is better: Mbapp\u00e9 or Messi?\u201d Shapiro quizzed again.<\/p>\n Mbapp\u00e9, the kid replied.<\/p>\n Shapiro fist-bumped the kid and moved on to grip more hands and poll more people, stopping for selfies along the way.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the world needs some more togetherness, needs some more cheer, and this is a great opportunity,\u201d Shapiro told reporters in a gaggle.<\/p>\n A reporter asked whether he disagreed with former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who rejected FIFA<\/a> and Chicago serving as a World Cup host.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m not going to comment on Rahm, because I didn’t hear him say it, but I’ll just say we’re looking at $770 million in economic impact here, and remember it’s across the state with Reading, with Pittsburgh and Scranton, of course, here Philly, which is the center of the soccer universe,\u201d Shapiro said. \u201cI think you’re seeing with the record-setting crowds we’ve had here at fan fest, it’s not just people here, it’s people in our hotels, our restaurants, our bars.\u201d<\/p>\n Later, Shapiro headed in the direction of the Linc, or Philadelphia Stadium in FIFA parlance, where he would take in the first half of Iraq vs. France, seeing Mbapp\u00e9 himself score a brace, including a back post screamer<\/a> in the 13th minute. First, though, he sat for another interview on the World Cup, this time with NPR Sports in America.<\/p>\n Back at the FIFA Fan Festival, Shapiro spoke with me about his endorsed slate<\/a> of congressional candidates, his recent meeting<\/a> with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Philadelphia\u2019s ties to the men\u2019s team.<\/p>\n The Commonwealth is home to three U.S. players: Matt Freese from Wayne, Christian Pulisic from Hershey and Auston Trusty from Media, I pointed out to Shapiro.<\/p>\n \u201cFreese first off has just been lights out at goalie,\u201d Shapiro said. \u201cHopefully, Pulisic is going to be healthy for Thursday night. [He was.] I got a soft place in my heart for Trusty.\u201d<\/p>\n Shapiro explained that Trusty\u2019s mom was partners in a law firm with the mother of his own son\u2019s girlfriend. The group went out to dinner last week, though Shapiro didn\u2019t join. The governor did make a video for Trusty and sent it to him. \u201cJust letting them know how proud we are of him,\u201d Shapiro said.<\/p>\n Trusty, Shapiro said, is \u201csomeone who can surprise us going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n A press wrangler told me I had one more question.<\/p>\n \u201cMessi or Mbapp\u00e9?\u201d I asked Shapiro.<\/p>\n \u201cMbapp\u00e9 today may be a slightly better player,\u201d Shapiro said. \u201cMessi has that thing that Michael Jordan had, which is just playing it at a different level, where it’s not just that he’s the best player on the pitch; he’s just in a different universe. He just does things that others simply can’t do. So, I mean, the three goals he had in that first game, actually, the first one, was extraordinary. I think Messi overall. Mbapp\u00e9 is pretty damn good right now.\u201d<\/p>\n