Oh What A Night (July '09)

Last night marked the first really relevant futbol match in the history of the city of Atlanta. Some may say that the Mexico/Venezuela game was, but that was only relevant in the Mexican and Hispanic communities. Over 53,000 fans packed into the Georgia Dome to witness AC Milan take on Club América.

This game was highly enjoyable and the Mexican outfit did not fail to impress. With some amazing footskill, they made some Milan players look childish. Their two goals came from immaculate crosses and sublime finishing. Milan had their moments, but this night was for Las Aguilas. Ronaldinho was confirmed as a player past his prime who is incredibly lazy, and Oguchi Onyewu got a rough introduction to life with the rossoneri on Club América's first goal, but played an overall decent game.
One thing that Atlanta did with this game was prove their capability of hosting a World Cup match or two if the USA gets one of the Cups that they are currently in the running for. The stadium was rockin and the field looked great. Aside from a frakus that went on in front of where we were sitting, the crowd also seemed great and the majority of the audience had a very high footy IQ, which always helps when watching the beautiful game.

In other footy news, newly promoted Serie A side Livorno are making an audacious double bid to sign US Internationals Landon Donovan and Ricardo Clark. If this goes off I think it would be fantastic. If these players go to a smaller team from a big league, then it will mean lots of playing time for them, which was the big mistake that Freddy Adu made when going to a bigger club. I really hope this happens, and if not Livorno, somewhere.

Essentially A July 4th Hangover

Tuesday night the Dynamo put four goals past the Battery on a rain-soaked pitch ending what had become an Open Cup rivalry with the Battery beating their opponents two times out of the last three years.

The Battery had their chances on the counter and with two FK's to have equalized. The pain of seeing your local side shut out pales to how upset I was that the team was not clapped off the pitch as they deserved.

Maybe I am reading into this too much, it's possible that there was a massive hangover from the weekend. Or maybe fans succumb to insecurities, that supporting your club translates to an expression of embarrassment or drunkenness instead of pride and joy. Either way, the lack of pulse shown by the fans at Blackbaud Park is something I hope to never experience again. But the cold, hard rain, I'll take that again; though the players would disagree.

About sixty people watched the first half as rain came on windy and cold, but we stayed seated, soaked and shivering.

This picture was taken before the opening goal and the ensuing downpour. The image that that saddened me most was seeing Dusty with his head hung down, forehead touching the stadium railing along the sideline; stricken with the agony of defeat.

The players left it all out on the field and especially the goalkeeper: the punching-bag, a net-minder in the twilight of his career being consoled by his family as embodying the emotions rung-out in the rain that night.

It was an indictment to fair-weather US soccer supporters who don't even show strength in defeat, to support their club when it needs it the most, not just buying the gear so your kid fits in.

I was delusional after the ConFed Cup final, the 3-1 win over Chivas and the packed house for the USA v Canada rugby game that this nation had the onset of World Cup Fever. Of course, we will not deny the possibility of change in the hearts of this great nation's polity.

For change is the only constant in the universe...

Battery Fires Volley, Sinks Chivas 3-1!!

For starters our local USL side delighted a big crowd
at Blackbaud Park with goals from Randi Patterson inside ten minutes and just before the half-time whistle for a 2-1 score line.

Yoshi netted from 25yrd off with nearly the last kick of the game. Fans were ridding the wave of a pandemic of world cup fever that is sweeping the nation in sync with the release of a book that blows the Beckham ear out of the water!


Who knew that when writing a non-fiction article assignment in 2006, the words maybe Beckham's arrival will change our sport's fan base, would become ironic. Our fan base has changed while Beckham's foray backfired in the worst way considering the reception he will receive returning to the Galaxy.

Second just spotlighting some emails to the World Soccer Daily show that I have gotten on twice in two weeks. Check the podcasts yesterday at the hour mark. My intuition was a bit off for the second half of that memorable match. As US fans my brother and I were on the phone at the half ecstatic, considering that the day after his wedding we were stunned into a depressed silence from an infamous Czech drubbing.

Sent the day of Confederations Cup Final:
Hey Stephen and Kenny, Dempsey scores off a bike and Landon converts a penalty: 2-1 win for USA, silences the boo boys. I was a first time caller on your show last week and I'd like to fact-check my comments on Ricardo Clark.

Clark, like Dempsey, went to Furman not Mercer as I said. Today at the pub I'll sort the details out with our school's coach and get back to you. This upcoming Tuesday the Battery play Chivas USA in the Open Cup just up the road at Blackbaud Stadium, SC. A group from our pick-up team will be going with me so be prepared for a match report on Monday. Alright, thanks again for taking my call and enjoy today's game, vuvuzelas and all.
Cheers,
James

Yesterday:
Hey Steven and Kenny thanks for taking my call, as a college student your show is integral during the work week. I had called in last week as well and I have fact-checked my Ricardo Clark comments, he didn't go to Mercer and went to Furman but before college he played through ODP. Our coach here at SCAD, Tom Melville, coached him at that level before he found his man-strength and grew.

Ok, so there's the editing now onto the emerging wave of World Cup Fever that is threatening to sweep this country. Blackbaud Park is more than a landmark on Daniel Island, home to the Charleston Battery who play in the first soccer specific stadium in the US.

The first placed USL side upset Chivas USA and their local Mexican fans in a 3-1 win with goals coming inside ten minutes, before the half and final whistle. Randi Patterson netted a first-half brace and Yoshi smashed a 25yrd volley into the top right corner for the biggest roar of noise ever heard by this local supporter. Be prepared for another match report next week, enjoy the weekend and fight the good fight.