In the game of soccer — if the clock is always running after all – why are there moments when time seems to stand still? Moments were every second seems like it is being pulled out of your chest.
In Kaiserslautern, Germany, on Saturday, we watched the U.S. national team claw their way to a bruising, bloody, incredibly 1-1 draw with Italy. The U.S. fans – surely the largest, most passionate, most knowledgeable group of Americans to cheer their team on foreign soil – felt every collision, screamed at every poor decision and held their breathe during the final tense moments.
For this game, we didn’t have tickets sitting together, but the Connecticut couple (Mike and his girlfriend) next to Robert’s seat squeezed over so we could stay together. It wasn’t like fans were using their seats anyway. The Americans stood for the entire match.
If you’ve never watch an international soccer match from the stands, you’ve never really experienced the game. On Saturday, the U.S. fans cheered, sang and chanted for the entire match. We have been too big sporting events: NFL, NBA and Stanley Cup playoff games. Nothing comes close to the eneregy we saw in Kaiserslautern.
As the game ticked toward fulltime, the Americans – many now clutching their flags like security blankets — got louder and wilder, willing their team to hang on. We survived one Italian corner kick, then another. Another. Would the referee ever blow the final whistle?
When that whistle did come, U.S. players collapsed onto the field. Their fans finally exhaled, but only for a moment. U.S. players and their manager Bruce Arena came over to the main section of Americans in the stands and applauded their fans. The fans responded by singing and chanting long after the game was over.
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The above is our postcard for the Free Press. We’ll try to post more later about the day with pictures, but we are jumping on a plane today to head to Leipzig for the Korea-France match.
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