The World Cup is officially underway, and it's already a nail-biter. It looks like we're in for a wild ride. We've already had Qatar being the first home nation in the tournament's 92-year history to lose its opening game, England going 6-2 up against Iran in their first match of the group stages, and Argentina having three consecutive goals called offside.
For USMNT (that's the USA team, by the way), their first game of the tournament saw the face Wales. While the game showed some promise for the side who finished the game 1-1, all eyes were on Head Coach Gregg Berhalter's sneaker game – a pair of A Ma Maniére x Nike Air Jordan 4s on the sideline? Ice cold.
As an England supporter, yesterday was a good day. Seeing our star boys, Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling, Jude Bellingham, Marcus Rashford, and Jack Grealish, all clinch goals in their opening game was a beautiful thing to see.
Better yet, our group rivals in Wales and the US finished their first match with a draw. Things are looking up.
Group B, two games in, has been pretty exciting so far. Perhaps even more than the total of ten goals, footwear has stolen the show. First, Raheem Sterling strikes the back of the net in the new New Balance x Stone Island boots, and then Gregg Berhalter flexes a pair of A Ma Maniére AJ4s.
A Ma Maniére's Air Jordan 4 collaboration has been a hot topic for quite some time. For weeks, even months on end, fans around the world speculated what the pair would look like.
The pair, which is less than 24 hours away from release, is the latest in a series of luxurious Jordan collaborations from AMA and may well be its most popular yet.
While the hype is already very real, putting a pair on the World Cup stage for your national team ahead of the sneaker's official release is a pretty big statement – an even bigger one if USMNT manages to make it out of the group stages.
Let's see what heat Gregg Berhalter brings to the pitch when the US faces off against England on Friday, shall we?
