Kansas town embraces Algeria as World Cup base camp draws crowds
What's new: Lawrence held soccer classes, halal food events and public training sessions as Algeria prepared to face Argentina.
Lawrence, Kansas, has turned Algeria’s World Cup base camp into an unlikely tournament hot spot, with hundreds greeting the team on arrival and thousands later gathering at Rock Chalk Park for training. Local organizers began preparing months ago after learning Algeria would stay in the city, hanging flags and welcome signs and even offering “Soccer 101” classes and lessons on Algerian fan culture. The effort also drew on the area’s Algerian community in the Kansas City suburbs, which organized airport greetings and supporter events through social media. Algeria open their campaign against defending champion Argentina at Kansas City Stadium on Tuesday.