Surprising Tune Was Unofficial Anthem of US World Cup Team

The US men's soccer team latched onto an unlikely World Cup anthem, and it was born in a leaky Georgetown basement. After each match before the US was eliminated Monday night, players stood together in front of their fans and launched into John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads," with thousands in the stands roaring along to a 1971 song no one on the roster is old enough to remember from the radio, per the Washington Post. "I can't explain—it just gives you chills," US player Christian Pulisic said of the mass crooning that took place when they started to sing.

"Boy, the song has just been everywhere," co-writer Bill Danoff, now 79, said last week, adding, with some amazement, "Who would've thought, this thing that came out of a dirty, old hippie apartment in Georgetown would be inspiring a soccer team? We sure didn't." The tune wasn't part of some grand plan by the team. FIFA asked teams for pre- and postgame music, and US Soccer, aiming for recognizable, singable tracks, floated a list that included "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi, Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline," and "Country Roads." With "Sweet Caroline" already spoken for by England, the Americans went with Denver.

USA Today reports that Amy Hopfinger, FIFA's chief business and strategy officer, made the final decision on the tune. What the team ended up with was a low-key, nonpolitical song about home and belonging that players and fans from all over could claim as their own, per the Post.