Experiencing the World Football Challenge – AC Milan v. Club America

Last night I had the great fortune of attending the World Football Challenge match between AC Milan and Club America in Atlanta, Georgia.  The match was fast paced and featured spectacular goals.  This particular WFC match also happened to be the AC Milan debut for American centerback Oguchi Onyewu.  The atmosphere was outstanding, despite being heavily in favor of Club America.  All in all, it was an amazing experience.  Here are my thoughts.

This was my first live soccer game of a professional nature.  It was nothing short of magical.  I count last night as the third best experience of my life, behind only my wedding and attending Game 7 of the 2003 NLCS between the Cubs and Marlins.  In the least melodramatic way possible, last night changed my life forever.  I now understand just what is so addicting about the atmosphere of a soccer match.

Words fail me.  As someone who has only watched soccer on television, I had no idea what to expect as I walked towards the stadium.  Apart from the traffic problems making everyone a frustrated, the atmosphere was great.  Club America fans and AC Milan fans walked to the ticket windows next to each other and without incident.  The ticket windows were also incredibly unorganized, with no signs directing people to Will Call.  It was just one mass of people lining up and getting turned away when they ended up in the wrong line.  Had it not been for a random audio announcement telling me where Will Call was, I would have missed the entire first half waiting in line.

As I walked into the stadium, it first felt like any other event.  The souvenir stands sold shirts and jerseys, and the concession stand lines were clogged with patrons desperate to get their beer and pizza fix.  I could hear the noise, but that was typical.  After all, if you expect crowd noise at a sporting event.  If there isn’t any, that’s a bad sign.  Little did I know that this noise was unlike any other I’d heard before, a precursor to an experience that would alter my perception of how live sports should sound and feel.

Getting to the seating area opened up a world of passion unlike any I’ve ever seen.  If you haven’t experienced a soccer match live, imagine what you see on television only about one hundred times louder and more exhilarating.  The fan support heavily favored Club America, but it never felt like a Club America home game.  The fans were there to see a great match, and a great match they saw.

The best part of the match was the passion exhibited by the Club America players.  Even though this was a preseason match for them, they played as if it really mattered.  They sensed an opportunity to show the world just how good Mexican soccer is and they took it.  The same cannot be said for AC Milan.  Milan played lazily for the entire first half.  Rolandinho hit two excellent free kicks, one hitting the corner of the goal, but otherwise Milan looked flat.  At halftime, although the score remained tied, Club America was clearly in control.

The second half began with a moment of pride I have not felt in quite sometime.  As Oguchi Onyewu was announced as a second half sub, the crowd erupted.  Gooch, the starting centerback for the US National Team and our defensive rock, was the first American field player to join one of the top teams in the Big Three leagues (England, Spain, Italy).  Goals would be scored later in the match, but none of the celebrations matched the intensity or overwhelming sense of pride I felt in my country that one of our boys (non-goalies that is) was finally in the big leagues.  There are very few moments in my life where I’ve been prouder to be an American than that one.

Unfortunately for Gooch, the match didn’t go his way.  He played well at first, clearing balls with ease as he towered over the diminutive Mexican strikers.  Then the 56th minute came.  Onyewu let his mark go by when they reached the top of the 18 yard box, and Club America took advantage.  Still on side, Enrique Esquesda took a well placed cross and laid it into the back of the net, leaving Gooch stunned.  The casual observer would think that goal was on Gooch, but the reality is that Tim Howard, USMNT keeper, is a much more agressive player than Milan keeper Marco Storari.  Gooch expected his keeper to snatch the cross out of the air as Howard, one of the world’s best goalies, so often does.  Storari just sat there and allowed a shot to take place.  That was the story of Storari’s entire night.  It was the story of most of Milan’s night.

The goal seemed to awaken a sense of urgency in AC Milan, but Club America never backed down.  Throughout much of the match, America’s players had played somewhat dirty soccer.  Every time a free kick was given to Milan, America players would stand well within the 10 yard free zone, much to the chagrin of AC Milan.  By the 60th minute, Milan midfielder Ivan Gennaro Gattuso had enough.  I can’t exactly remember the sequence of events, largely because it was unclear what was happening at the time, but one of the Milan players stepped up to the Club America players within the 10 yard zone and shoved them out of the way.  Minor shoves had been occurring during the match for quite some time, but this push was different.  The America players responded immediately and a scuffle ensued.  As the refs attempted to break up the fight, it moved over to the sideline, close to the crowd.  Then the mistakes were made.

Some idiot fans, seeming of Club America (one was holding a yellow flag from what I saw) threw beer at the group of players arguing and shoving each other.  No fans were tossed (that I saw).  Rather than inciting a Ron Artest moment, the players actually calmed down as a result of the incident, at least for the time being.  For his role in the fight, Gattuso earned a yellow card.  Shortly after play resumed, Marek Jankulovski made a hard challenge on a Club America player directly in front of the America bench.  He was issued a yellow card, nearly leading to another fight, but cooler heads prevailed.  AC Milan was clearly agitated by this no-name (to them) club beating them soundly in just about every facet of the match.

Milan finally cooled down after a brilliant long pass found Filippo Inzaghi in between two America defenders.  He quickly gathered the ball and placed it perfectly into the net.  The crowd erupted, largely because those who were there without an affiliation had become Milan fans in order to support Gooch.  Even if they did not support AC Milan, the fans appreciated a world class goal.  It takes goals that good to get a Milan supporter like myself (because of Gooch) and a Club America supporter (the guy next to me) to high five after a Milan goal.  It was that good.

The rest of the match was hard fought, but the tensions had clearly subsided.  Goochcontinued to play well, keeping the America attackers at bay with header clearance after header clearance.  In the 84thminute, American finally broke through.  A cross came into the box again, this time with Gooch away from the ball.  His fellow centerback had a clear shot at a clearance, but he missed.  Again the keeper held his line.  Again, it cost AC Milan a goal.  Onyewu was vindicated as the keeper was clearly reluctant to do his job.  That goal sealed Milan’s fate in the tournament.  Despite a flurry of attempts on goal, including one boneheaded waste of a perfect Onyewupass, Milan could not finda second goal.  Club America completed it’s sweep of Italian giants, this time without penalty kicks.

Although my team, for the night anyway, lost, I left the match on the natural high that one can only get from attending an amazing event.  Sports have a unique place in American culture in that, win or lose, people can usually appreciate a great game.  AC Milan v. Club America on July 22nd, 2009 was easily one of those great games.  I had always believed in soccer as the great sport America had yet to fully discover.  I myself had not fully discovered it before that night, but as I left the Georgia Dome I knew something inside me had changed.  I had seen the light.  I had become a believer.  Now if only more people could share that experience.