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At the Copa . . . no Manilow but lots of families

Forget traffic. Evidently the hard part about getting to the sports complex in South Philadelphia for Saturday's United States-vs.- Paraguay soccer match of the Copa America Centenario was the week of fashion decisions leading up to it.

The Copa America Centenario soccer tournament brought tens of thousands of fans to Philadelphia.  Philadelphia is hosting first-round match-ups at Lincoln Financial Field, including the U.S. v. Paraguay on June 11, 2016. Ryan Shirah, center, of the American Outlaws was dressed as George Washington.  He hi-fives a woman dressed like Wonder Woman as they walk to the stadium. CHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer
The Copa America Centenario soccer tournament brought tens of thousands of fans to Philadelphia. Philadelphia is hosting first-round match-ups at Lincoln Financial Field, including the U.S. v. Paraguay on June 11, 2016. Ryan Shirah, center, of the American Outlaws was dressed as George Washington. He hi-fives a woman dressed like Wonder Woman as they walk to the stadium. CHARLES FOX / Staff PhotographerRead more

Forget traffic. Evidently the hard part about getting to the sports complex in South Philadelphia for Saturday's United States-vs.- Paraguay soccer match of the Copa America Centenario was the week of fashion decisions leading up to it.

For the Walkow, Stoddard, and Kite-Whidden families - five parents and five children in total who drove down together from Upstate New York - they had to figure out the best way to get decked out.

Everything had to be red, white, and blue, of course. Hats, shirts, scarves, bandannas. Necklaces, too.

And face paint - on kids and adults.

"Hours and hours coordinating," said Andy Walkow, joined by daughters Abby, 7, and Julia, 5. He compared the planning to prom, a complex calculus of color: "How much red, white, and blue could we put on?"

They were among the tens of thousands of fans packing the parking lots Saturday hours ahead of the 7 p.m. match for some serious tailgating. Mixed in with the shirtless guys playing cornhole and adults grilling burgers were families - multigenerational clans of soccer fans, many driving hours to take part in the largest soccer event in the country since the 1994 World Cup.

"We just have so much fun," said Katie Stoddard.

There's a soccer fan among the parents in each of the Kite-Whidden, Stoddard, and Walkow families, and all five of the children play soccer.

Three wore jerseys Saturday: Sage Kite-Whidden, 10; Mason Stoddard, 8; and Liam Stoddard, 5.

"Kick like a girl," read Abby Walkow's T-shirt. She also wore an American flag and a plastic top hat.

Julia Walkow sported a souvenir from an earlier trip to the Olympic Stadium in Montreal for last year's FIFA Women's World Cup.

All blended in with the swarm of red, white, and blue.

But the colors also complicated the matter of identifying factions Saturday, with the United States and Paraguay flags sharing the same three hues.

All over the sports complex, fans wore the same colors.

And then there was Jessica Vera, 26, wearing Paraguay gear like the rest of her family - and a pair of sunglasses resembling the U.S. flag.

Wait, what?

"I don't know!" she said, feeling the conflicting pull of her Paraguayan father's family and her loyalties to her own country. "I want Paraguay to win, but I kind of want the U.S. to win."

The Veras drove down Saturday from West Chester, N.Y., with friends and met up with family members who came up from Washington.

"This is actually our first family trip together," Jessica Vera said. A reunion of sorts, the trip was also the family's first visit to Philadelphia.

One child in the family had just last week learned about the Liberty Bell. She got to see it in person Saturday.

In the parking lot, surrounded by hundreds of other Paraguay fans, the Veras had chowed down on traditional Paraguayan food: chipa (bread), sopa (corn bread), and asado (grilled meats).

The feeling of unity was the best part, Vera said.

"Seeing so many Paraguayans. I don't think I've ever seen so many in one location," she said.

Meeting people from different cultures, traveling the world, learning new things - these, Richard Levy said, are the reasons he and his wife, Rachel, love soccer.

They've traveled internationally for the last three World Cups. With their sons, Xavier, 8, and Zachary, 11, the Levys, of Scotch Plains, N.J., have also gone to Spain, Italy, and London to watch the game they so love.

In December, they'll go to France.

"It's like a passport to the world. It's the world's game," Richard Levy said.

And now, Rachel Levy said, they were getting to watch it in "the birthplace of America."

For the parents, supporting two children's hectic soccer schedules and traveling with them is a sacrifice. But they make it work - Zachary did homework on his laptop the whole drive down Saturday - and it's ultimately worth it, they said.

"It's not about the individual, it's about the team," Rachel Levy said. "It teaches a lot of team values."

As for drinking at the tailgate, the potential rowdiness of the crowd?

"It's better to expose them to these environments now," Rachel Levy said. "They learn from it. It's a teaching moment."

Seeing a drunk guy on the floor, she said, might teach her kids about alcohol use - and abuse.

In Brazil, seeing the favelas (slums) taught them about extreme poverty, she said.

Zachary said his favorite part of playing the game is "smashing other kids" and then taking the ball.

In the stands, he loves to watch and learn.

"I like watching how they play, watching how they develop," he said. "They zone out the audience and play the beautiful game."

jlai@phillynews.com

856-779-3220 @elaijuh