INDIANAPOLIS - Match Report 2 - When the Yanks come marching in

    Driving around downtown Indianapolis, you would have thought that this was a college football Saturday.  Jerseys, colors, and excitement are everywhere.  But it isn’t: it’s game day for the World Cup, and the United States is playing.

    My destination is the Chatham Tap, considered by many to be one of the top soccer bars in the state of Indiana, if not the entire country.  I get there just before half time of the Germany-Portugal game.  While it isn’t packed, the bar is standing room only over five hours before the game.  There are a decent amount of German shirts as well as a couple Portuguese and Iranian ones, but for the most part the patrons are decked out in red, white, and blue.

    I speak to the bartender and ask him how common it is to have the bar this full before a U.S. game.  He tells me that it is like this all the time.  In fact, he claims that the atmosphere is much better for the United States national team than for any NFL or NBA games they have in there.  Usually, for those leagues (even for Colts and Pacers games), fans will show up right before the game and still be able to find a seat, and yet it is usually standing room only for hours before the USA plays.  As he turns away, two men at the bar lean over to me and add that this is an understatement.  “There is no comparison” between the atmosphere of Colts/Pacers games and the national team’s matches (an encouraging sign for a city that only just got a professional soccer team this year, Indy Eleven of the NASL).

    A couple of people leave at the end of the Germany vs. Portugal match (t-minus four hours until the USA plays) and I am able to grab the only two seats for a friend of mine who will be joining me later (I would have saved an extra two for my other friends who were coming if I had been able to), and the decrease in population does not last long.  As Nigeria vs. Iran kicks off (t-minus three hours), a slow but continuous stream of people file into the bar.  Again, almost all are wearing red, white, and blue.  A couple walk in looking for a beer or a late lunch and are startled to see the place so full, having forgotten that the USA’s World Cup campaign starts today, but they are far outnumbered by the star spangled supporters in the bar.

    Halfway through the Nigeria-Iran game (t-minus two hours), the feel in the bar becomes that of a supporters section.   Chants of “USA!  USA!”, “Oh when the Yanks come marching in”, and “I believe that we will win!” crop up with increasing frequency.  It strikes me how much soccer supporters in bars try to make it feel like a stadium.  Watching the Seahawks-49ers NFC Championship game in a bar in January, the crowd was mostly talking amongst themselves (except for the odd “Sea!” “HAWKS!” chant).  Here, they are chanting, singing, and yelling a full two hours before game time.

    As kickoff approaches, however, a nervousness encroaches upon the bar.  Chanting dies down only to be picked up louder, but in between there is nervous muttering, people checking out their watches, even one woman yelling, “start the match already!”  This is a must-win game for the United States, and against the opponent who knocked us out of the last two World Cups.

The Chatham Tap, just under an hour until USA vs. Ghana

    While the supporters in the bar chant all the way through the Ghanaian national anthem, they take up the singing of the Star Spangled Banner with full voice, cacophonously singing a couple beats behind the music from the TVs.  There’s a little confusion when the people on TV start clapping while the bar is still on “banner yet wave,” but the crowd finishes anyway and immediately starts chanting “USA!”

    Then, the whistle sounds, and a roar rises to greet the USA’s 2014 World Cup campaign.

    Suddenly, Sounders star Clint Dempsey fires in a shot and scores 30 seconds into the match.  The bar erupts.  And when I say erupts, I mean ERUPTS - people jumping up and down, running around, hugging each other - and it’s only the first minute of the game!

    Comparing it to my experience with all the Brazilians in Milwaukee, I note that the USA fans are  more positive and, shockingly, more openly enthusiastic.  Chants come twice as often as they had with the Brazilians, and for the most part the supporters are positive and cheerful at the beginning.

    However, Ghana soon becomes the dominant team in the game, even though they are unable to find an equalizer.  The chants of the first fifteen minutes fade into nervous looks, although the nervousness makes the cheering for every good U.S. moment all the louder.  Frustration builds as the USA keeps giving the ball away and the Ghanaians lay siege to the American goal, and the fans start to yell at individual players for constantly playing poorly.  Then, a backheel pass from Gyan.  A good finish from Ayew.  And the US loses its lead with eight minutes left.

    A collective cry (coupled with several loud curses) fills the bar, then silence.  Complete silence.  It seems more of a “well, we deserved that” silence than a “how could that happen to us” silence, but that does not make it any less sad.  An air of despair and desperation fills the room, and while people had been talking about holding on for all three points they were now hoping that the USA could salvage one.

    Then, four minutes later, euphoria.  The USA gets a corner, and Graham Zusi steps up to take it.  The bar starts yelling like it is 3rd down in CenturyLink.  Zusi delivers.  John Brooks heads it in, and the USA has the lead again four minutes from time.  The bar explodes in cheers louder than for the first goal.  We are yelling, high fiving, jumping, hugging, laughing, crying.  I was even picked up in a bear hug by this guy that I had never met before.  I didn’t care, and neither did any of the other fans.  The USA had scored, and were inches from getting just their seventh win in World Cup history (and first opening match win since 2002).  Chants of “USA!  USA!” fill the air, and , and everything is right in the world.

    The final whistle sounds, and the game is over.  The USA has won.  Chanting resumes (“Three points for the boys!”), and people file out into the street, whooping and cheering.  Walking away, I reflect that if I was impressed by the Brazilian’s support on Thursday, I was blown away by the Americans on Monday.  If anyone ever says that “Americans don’t like soccer,” I urge them to go to the Chatham Tap to watch the United States play a game.  Not only will their mind be changed, but they’ll instantly become a fan of the Yanks as well.