G-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-al ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Soccer fans from across the world are caught up with World Cup fever this week, but the joy of playing soccer goes back decades in Manatee County, as these photos from the Bradenton Herald archives show.




Bradenton Christian School player David Kesten, left, and Saint Stephen's School player Adam Buskirk tussle for the ball in a Sept. 28, 1993 game.



Sarasota Hurricane's Joe Hembree, right, flies into the air to get to a kick off the foot of a Naples Sharks player in a March 13, 1993 tornament game at G.T. Bray Park in Bradenton.



Boomer No. 10 Brent Smith charges down the pitch past Strikers No. 3 Jeff Hernden after the ball in a MAYSO Under-9 Championship game Jan. 18, 1993.



Although the World Cup play in South Africa this month is all men, Manatee County is preparing its young women for the 2011 Women's World Cup in Germany. Almost two decades ago, the young girls on the G & E team in this Nov. 9, 1991 photo show off their skills in getting the ball down the pitch in a game against the DesChamps & Gregory team.