Rio de Janeiro or Chicago -- that’s the dilemma for soccer fans

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Let’s see, Rio de Janeiro has Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense and Vasco da Gama, to name only four.Chicago has the Chicago Fire.

Rio has produced the likes of Leonidas da Silva, Romario, Carlos Alberto, Jairzinho, Zico, Ronaldo, the list is endless.

Chicago has produced two guys from Arlington Heights -- Brian McBride and Jonathan Spector.

Rio has the magical Maracana, where you can hear this.

Chicago has Toyota Park, which looks and sounds like this.

So, given all that, why would Southern California soccer fans be rooting for Chicago on Friday morning when the International Olympic Committee board votes in Copenhagen on the site of the 2016 Olympic Games?

Because it would bring the Games to Los Angeles as well, or at least to Pasadena.

If Chicago wins out over Rio, Madrid and Tokyo, the Rose Bowl is one of the projected venues for the men’s and women’s soccer tournaments, along with a handful of other ‘remote’ sites.

Me? I’m rolling down to Rio regardless.

-- Grahame L. Jones