THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: American teams aside, there's plenty of good news in soccer

Yes, yes, soccer fans, I hear you.

Let’s even go so far as an apology, since a sport continuing to boom internationally — and right here at home — hasn’t gotten enough chatter in this space.

There’s irony in here, too, because I’m a frantic soccer fan (though when I lived in Britain we called it football), and I scribble out Scottish newsletter items about the Premier League whenever a story demands it.

More specifically, I’ve been an Arsenal fan for a tad over 25 years, so I’m all in for “The World’s Game.”

If you follow soccer at all, you know that there’s a gazillion things happening right now — tournament finals coming on Sunday, coach firings, squads named for the Paris Olympics, chaos among fans and players at the Copa America in Charlotte, and most exciting of all, transfer deadlines for the major European leagues looming on July 30.

(Indeed, you’re correct that I’m following negotiations between Arsenal and Bologna of Italy’s Serie A over gifted left back Riccardo Calafiori, in addition to flying Spanish left winger Nico Williams of Athletic Bilbao.) 

MOVING on to wider targets.

Not just Arsenal targets, but news from the entire, sprawling world of football … uh, soccer.

The big-ticket items are Sunday’s tourney finals on both sides of the Atlantic.

Germany has been hosting UEFA’s European championship, and it’s come down to a fascinating match between Spain — which wins a fair share of titles — and England.

This is a massive chance for the Brits, who invented the sport but haven’t won ANY sort of international event since the 1966 World Cup.

The English are going bonkers, and signs crying out “Bring It Home!” can be found everywhere from the veggie aisle in grocery stores to public toilets at the local library.

I’ve already mentioned Nico Williams, but the player who’s lit up the Euros so far is Spain’s winger on the other side, 16-year-old Yamine Lamal.

The English star most likely to find a winner is Bukayo Saka (surprisingly, an Arsenal player).

Right, now we come back across the ocean for the final of the Copa America at the Meadowlands outside New York City.

This will be a testy match between Colombia and Argentina, both decent teams who play with a physical edge that can lead to unpleasantness.

The Argentines are defending World Cup champs with Leo Messi at the front.

Meanwhile, we have to hope the physical side of things is limited to the pitch.

At the end of the semifinal between Colombia and Uruguay, an ugly brawl took place that spilled past the benches and wound up with Uruguayan players Darwin Nunez and captain Jose Maria Gimenez (among others) going into the stands to confront a group of fans.

The Copa America lost plenty of its luster, at least for the home supporters, when a supposedly talented United States team was knocked out in the preliminary group stage.

The U.S. tumbled 2-1 to Panama (for context, Panama lost 5-0 to Colombia) and then, with a final chance to advance to the knockouts, the Americans lost 1-0 to Uruguay.

THE YANKS’ drab performance ultimately cost coach Gregg Berhalter his job.

Besides appearing toothless and occasionally in mixed-up formation, the U.S. had internal trouble leading up to the Copa America.

Berhalter has had a long-running dispute with the family of midfielder Gio Reyna — whose father is also a coach — and it appeared patched up before the tournament.

Obviously, though, this sort of scrap only gets buried if you win.

And they didn’t.

At the same time (almost), the once-faultless U.S. Women’s National Team has hit some speed bumps.

The ladies were knocked out of the last World Cup in the group stage — despite being favorites to win the whole thing — and now new coach Emma Hayes has caused a scrap heading into the Olympics.

Hayes surprised almost everyone in the soccer world by leaving longtime star Alex Morgan off the roster.

Morgan has appeared in every U.S. tournament since 2008, and scoring a whopping 123 goals in 224 games.

She’s also a model who adds some glamor to the team, with an army of young women and girls who wear her No. 13 shirts to every game.

So, there’s a social side to the cold-blooded soccer decision that Hayes promised she would make.

Over the next month or so, worldwide soccer needs some good vibes.

Maybe Sunday’s two finals will be thrilling games, and perhaps the U.S. can get its assorted acts together before the Olympics.

Several billion fans want to enjoy the “the beautiful game.”

Yes, billion with a B.

There’s a lot at stake.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”