World Cup 2014: A Memorable Monday In New York

Not only was it the country’s first match of the 2014 World Cup, but also a chance at revenge against a familiar opponent. And as time ticked away in the precursor match between Germany and Portugal, coach Jürgen Klinsmann and the USMNT were in Natal, likely hashing out some last-minutes strategies.  Meanwhile, about 4,100 miles away, I was doing some strategizing of my own, though on a much smaller scale.

Recently, I was contacted by the New York Red Bulls, of Major League Soccer, inviting me to venture from my confines outside Philadelphia to Red Bull Arena, for a friendly media match.  Of course, having played – and watched – soccer for quite some time, it took little convincing.

So there I found myself – with Newark seemingly on one side, New York City on the other and in between, one hell of a nice soccer stadium that, for one afternoon, was my playground.

Everyone dreams of playing for a professional team and what it would be like to perform at the same venue as their favorite players and when I walked in and saw a locker with my name on it, it was like I had become a little kid again.  As I prepared to take the field, I pondered over some of the names that have played on that very same grass – Thierry Henry, Landon Donovan, Kyle Beckerman.  As I walked out of the tunnel, there wasn’t 25,000 onlookers cheering, no blaring music, none of that – just a sea of blue seats and a huge chunk of green grass.  But that was enough to get me psyched.

Donning a full Red Bulls blue away jersey – shh, don’t tell the Philadelphia Union – I began to warm up and meet the other 10 players on the team.  These were men and women of various ages and sizes, who worked in print, TV and radio throughout the New York metropolitan area.  Some I recognized, others I did not, but there wasn’t a lot of time to become buds – sure, there was small talk but it was time to test our luck at the world’s most popular game.  It certainly wasn’t as easy as it looks on TV.

The match consisted of two 25-minute halves, with a 10-minute breather in between and as we warmed up, we were introduced to our coach – Red Bulls forward Andre Akpan.  After a short shoot-around, it was time to play some eight-versus-eight, and while none of us were soccer professionals, we played pretty well for ourselves.  That is, until our first player needed a break at about the 10 minute mark.

With the help of some MLS referees, it went off without a hitch and the competitive side began to take over, while cameras caught the middle school-like action on film.  Everyone definitely kept it light, including the referees, which I found myself wisecracking whenever I got the chance.  There was a lot of heavy breathing, a couple of illegal slide tackles and plenty of solid goaltending and in the end, the blue team defeated the white team by a score of 6-4.  Yours truly scored the insurance goal – no big deal.

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After that, we all headed to one of two locker rooms, showered and prepared ourselves for the second part of the soccer double dip – the USMNT match against Ghana. 

At this point, the Red Bulls had opened the stadium to fans for a viewing party and, by kickoff, there were close to 5,000 raucous fans in the lower bowl and concourse.  While we had the option to watch in the luxury box, I spent the first half with the crowd – and boy, am I glad I did.  When Clint Dempsey scored that goal, the place erupted and those 5,000 fans suddenly sounded closer to 15,000.  After some delicious complimentary food and drink, I made my way inside for the remainder of the game.  We all know how awesome that ended.

The walk to my car at the end of the day was one filled with cheers, chants, high-five and American flags. 

It didn’t matter your background, your other favorite teams – none of that.  And it left me hungry for more.  I couldn’t have imagined a better way to celebrate perhaps, the biggest U.S. soccer event ever.

Ed Miller is a contributor for CraveOnline Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @PhillyEdMiller or “like” CraveOnline Sports on Facebook.

Photos courtesy Rob Tringali/New York Red Bulls.