Thursday, July 3, 2014

DENVER - Match Report 5 - America bows out

    It is July 1. It’s the USA’s time to shine in the knockout round, and my friend and I arrive at the Three Lions pub at 9:30 A.M. anticipating a fantastic day of soccer.  However, for being such an important day, the crowd is thin early on.  Although the place isn’t empty, there are plenty of open tables.  About 3/4 are in their USA gear, the other quarter are in Argentinian blue and white.  I am the only person wearing the red of Switzerland for the day’s first game.  Nevertheless, the crowd is still quite amiable towards me.  A kind Argentinian woman in her late 20s invites me and my friend to sit with her at the best table in the house (even though I am “wearing the wrong jersey”).

    During the Switzerland-Argentina match, the bar rapidly fills up.  By half time every table is full, and by the end of regular time I have to fight through the crowd just to reach the bathroom.  As in other cities, the patrons, though almost exclusively clad in USA gear, are as engrossed in the day’s first game as they would be if their own country were playing.  A gasp for every big save.  A loud cheer for Argentina’s go-ahead goal three minutes from the end of extra time.  A groan of dismay when Switzerland’s Dzemaili hits the post with a header two minutes later.  The American fans also offer up consolation generously.  In the half hour after the game, I get many pats on the back and words of comfort praising the Swiss on their good fight.  I need this, as the heartbreaking nature of the loss has me closer to tears than any other moment so far this World Cup.

    However, there is no time to mourn.  The USA plays next, and I needs must change into my USA outfit (complete with lucky socks).

    In the lead-up to the match, there are the customary cheers for Klinsmann and boos for the Belgian squad, but compared to everywhere else I have been there is very little chanting until just before kickoff.  This isn’t for any lack of voices, though.  Every inch of space is taken up 30 minutes before game time, and the bar has to stop letting people in before the match even starts.

It is a packed house by the end of Argentina-Switzerland

    As usual, the national anthem is sung a couple beats behind the music on the TV.  A couple boos are scattered throughout the Belgian national anthem.  And with the songs out of the way, the game begins.

    In the first half, energy of the bar seems to have little to no relation to the game going on.  Seven Nation Army is sung, as is Florida State’s War Chant.  The crowd is just as partisan as in Philadelphia, complaining about most calls against the USA even if the decision is obviously correct.  Otherwise, the fans start out quite cheerful and optimistic, with the only target of negativity being Michael Bradley, who has had a very poor tournament by his high standards.

    At half time, another friend, who joined us during the game, asks how my original friend and I know the people we are sitting with (in addition to the Argentinian woman, four American men have joined us).  We respond by saying we don’t know them, and that only because of soccer are we able to converse as easily as we are.  This then leads to a discussion of how wonderful it is that the beautiful game can bring together people all over the world with nothing in common but a love for the sport.  The conversation is broken up when a gigantic American flag is unfurled, covering the everyone on the ground floor.  Chants of “USA!”  begin as we hold it up, only stopping once the second half begins.

I get caught under a giant American flag that gets rolled out at halftime

    During the second half, the crowd gets more intense the closer the game comes to extra time.  By the hour mark, chants and bursts of loud noise are so frequent that I can’t even hear what my friends are saying.  People are so fixated on the match that they don’t even notice a fire truck slowly roll by the bar with a giant American flag painted on it.  Everyone is so anxious that Tim Howard’s saves are cheered as loudly as  if the USA had scored a goal (no exaggeration whatsoever).  A loud, drunken rendition of the Star Spangled Banner is sung as regular time ends.  0-0.  We are headed for another 30 minutes.

    Right at the beginning of extra time, De Bruyne makes it 1-0 Belgium, and the energy is completely sapped from the crowd.  All encouraging cheers and chants are reduced to a third of their original strength, and many people start criticizing the team for every small mistake that they make.  The frustration only doubles when Romelu Lukaku makes it 2-0 Belgium right before half time of extra time.

    As the crowd’s attitude threatens to become downright toxic, a lifeline appears.  19-year-old Julian Green scores a wonderful volley, and the USA is only one goal down.  A cheer that is as much relief as it is jubilation roars up, along with a slightly belated beer shower.  Whereas the crowd’s energy was gone two minutes ago, now it is back and stronger than ever.  Screams erupt for every half-chance the USA gets.  The negativity is still there (shouts of “what are you doing?!?” are present every time a ball, touch, or a run isn’t 100% perfect), but it is more desperate than frustrated now.

    The final whistle blows, and so ends the United States’ World Cup journey.  A disgruntled silence lasts for about ten seconds before a round of appreciative applause begins.  It starts small, but soon everyone in the bar is clapping.  Despite everything that happened during that match, the crowd is still eager to thank the players for an entertaining journey which, while it ended sooner than we would have liked it, firmly established the USA among the world’s top 16 teams.

    I left with my friends to go explore the city, hoping that the nation will not stop watching the World Cup now that the USA is done.  I certainly won’t.  Even if many do, I hope that watching the USA for the past three weeks has given them enough of a taste of the world’s game necessary to create a couple more lifelong fans, and further the game’s presence here in the United States.

No comments:

Post a Comment