This isn’t an exclusive club or anything, but it congregates on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons to watch UEFA Champions League football, the crown jewel of European football. This week, Tuesday’s ESPN2 broadcast showed Liverpool FC snatch a 2-0 victory from Inter Milan, while yesterday’s contest saw Arsenal and AC Milan draw 0-0.
The Frist soccer fans gather around the television closest to the new C-Store — the television tuned to sports so much that the ESPN logo is burned in the corner of the screen — and quickly all of the seats fill up. By the time I arrive from a precept midway through the first half of Arsenal-AC Milan, I am forced to sit on the floor.
It’s a raucous crowd that includes Arsenal supporters, Milan supporters and just plain soccer fans like me. We all arrived here by different means: One Arsenal fan’s family is French, and the north London club has a French coach and many French players; another is a student from Nigeria, a staunch Inter fan who’s confident the “Nerazzuri” will defeat Liverpool when they meet again; another became an Arsenal fan after spending time abroad in Oxford. I grew up playing the sport and have been a fan for a long time, though I settled on rooting for Liverpool after playing with them on the Xbox.
Becoming a fan of soccer isn’t an easy thing to do in the U.S. Unlike the citizens of virtually every other country in the world, Americans tend to love our own brand of football first and baseball or basketball second. As a consequence, U.S. soccer teams are woefully overmatched by their European counterparts. One interesting side effect of this phenomenon is that aging European greats often come to the United States to play out their last few years of good health — see Beckham, David.
For top-notch soccer, American fans have to watch European games like the Arsenal-Milan matchup.
Even though that contest ended 0-0, it was an exciting game that drew constant shouts from the crowd. Roars, screams of despair, applause, and “oohs” and “aahs” sprinkled the 90-minute contest. Arsenal had the lion’s share of chances, as Milan talisman Kaka’s chances were limited. Two moments in particular brought the greatest rise from the crowd. In the 85th minute, Arsenal’s Emmanuel Eboue appeared to be fouled inside the penalty area, drawing the referee’s whistles and applause from the Frist “Gooner” contingent, but the referee had actually whistled Eboue for diving. Previously clapping hands now covered disappointed faces.
The last chance — maybe the best of the game — came in the game’s final minute, the fourth minute of stoppage time. By this point, all seats were taken and at least 25 other spectators were standing nearby. A nifty cross found Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor just feet from an exposed goal, but the forward’s powerful header glanced off the crossbar and out of danger. The crowd noise went from dull roar to excited yelling to screams to agony in the span of a few seconds. Adebayor had the game on a platter — and blew it.
These fans are soccer savvy, yelling out plays and passing outlets as the game develops. But they can also be appreciated by fans of other sports. Yells of “Let’s go! He’s too good!” are common. “Teach him something about passing, Fabregas,” remarked one fan to two players who had not gelled on offense. Another fan, after seeing the attire of Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti, remarked, “If [Arsenal coach] Arsene Wenger ever wore that, I’d stop being a fan.”
If you want to experience this, the next round of Champions League action is in two weeks. While even the most avid American sports fan might not get soccer, he or she might get a kick out of watching the crowd.
“What on earth is going on here?” one girl asked after seeing the immense crowd react to Adebayor’s near miss. “Oh, it’s just soccer.”
But ask any fan — it’s more than just soccer.
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