St. Vincent and the Grenadines Declare National Holiday for World Cup Qualifier Even Though They're Already Eliminated

Oh man, you guys. The U.S. has been doing soccer so, so wrong for a very long time now. And I'm not just talking on the field. Look no further for an example of how to do soccer right than the USMNT's opponents today, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Their government has declared today's gameday a national holiday—even though the match has absolutely no consequence on St. Vincent and the Grenadines' already-failed World Cup bid.

Yes, CONCACAF has its flaws and its fair share of gimme teams—there's probably a reason why we see little variation in the qualifying teams for each World Cup. But one thing CONCACAF doesn't lack is a bunch of passionate fanbases that turns out. St. Vincent and the Grenadines anticipated a huge commotion around tonight's game against their neighbors to the north, and so they decided to make a big occasion out of it.

My cab driver on way to stadium said only gov't employees & those w/ticket to game have half day off. Everyone else has to work. #usmnt
— Jeff Carlisle (@JeffreyCarlisle) September 2, 2016

Ok, so it seems that it's only a holiday for ticket holders and government officials, but still. Imagine trying to go to a New York post office at 3:30pm to send out some important Friday EOD letters, and getting turned away because there's a US national game on. "Sorry, bub; I've really got to find out if Klinsmann is playing Sacha Kljestan tonight or not."

The government has also issued heightened security procedures for the match.

To top the whole thing off, the St. Vincent and the Grenadines FA issued the above-poster, promoting an event held in the stands—with DJs and a rhythm section—that lasts four-and-a-half hours longer than the game itself. St. Vincent has exactly zero points in the World Cup Qualifying table, folks. They're just happy to be out there.

UPDATE:

Case in point.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines brought out the steel drums for today's national anthems. #USAvVIN pic.twitter.com/9oyBkwUf0k
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) September 2, 2016