Dane Richards (left) and Wayne Bridge
The host New York Red Bulls, with newly-signed superstar Thierry Henry, the Arsenal legend, took on Arsenal's arch-rivals, fellow North London team Tottenham Hotspur, a.k.a. "Spurs."
In 1961, Spurs won the Football League and the FA Cup tournament, becoming the first English team in the 20th Century to "win The Double" or "do The Double." They also won the FA Cup in 1962, 1967, 1981 and 1991 -- but that's it for major trophies. They've since won the League Cup in 1999 and 2008, but teams that consider the League Cup a "major trophy" can hardly be called a "big club."
Spurs fans also like to talk about their hooliganism. But there was no way they were going to be able to pull any of their usual stuff at Red Bull Arena: The home team has a great security system, searching for weapons and tossing out anyone outside the designated supporters-club sections (in other words, anyone inside the "family sections") that gets out of line. Besides, do they really think London is tougher (or "harder" as they would say) than New York and New Jersey? It is not.
Anyway, both teams went through the 1st half with most of their starters, including the newly-signed Henry, who scored his first goal for his new team. It wasn't a vintage "Henry... What a goal! What a goal!" shot, but it counted just the same. A lot of Tri-State Area converts to the Arsenal cause (a.k.a. Gooners, from the team's nickname the Gunners, from the cannon on their crest) went mental, watching the greatest player in team history (some would still say that's Dennis Bergkamp) score for their real home team.
Henry had already been embraced by the Metro fans, and he embraced them in return. He told reporters that he even took the PATH train from Manhattan to Harrison. I wonder how many people recognized him? He did do a Gillette razor commercial with Roger Federer and Tiger Woods, although for most U.S. broadcasts, that ad was Federer, Woods and Derek Jeter.
Anyway, Metro's Number 14 didn't get the treatment Pelé got when he came to play for the New York Cosmos from 1975 to '77, but Henry did have the advantage of the increased TV coverage from the NASL's time, being that, aside from the '70 World Cup where he led Brazil to victory, most Americans hadn't really seen Pelé up until '75.
In contrast, with Premier League action from England, La Liga action from Spain, Serie A action from Italy, and Bundesliga action from Germany now available via satellite, and Henry's appearances in the 1998 and 2006 World Cups for France (winning the former as a substitute and reaching the Final of the latter as an already huge star), most Americans who care about sports know who he is, having seen him play on TV, first for Arsenal and then for Barcelona.
In the 2nd half, Red Bulls manager Hans Backe took out Henry, and some other starters, including the goalkeeper, the Senegalese wizard Bouna Condoul, replacing him with Greg Sutton.
Two big mistakes. Not only did those substitutions take out our best offensive player, but switching goalies was a bonehead move. Sutton may have been Canada's Number 1 -- that is, the starting goalkeeper on their national soccer team -- but he was no match for Spurs, whose manager Harry Redknapp left in his starters, including Robbie Keane, Gareth Bale and Luka Modrić. Keane and Bale both scored in the 2nd half to give Spurs a 2-1 win.
Needless to say, the Spurs fans were their usual selves, thinking they were "taking the piss on our manor." Dimwits, they were losing against the starting lineup of an MLS team! An MLS team! This, after they managed only a scoreless draw against the San Jose Earthquakes in their last game, and the Quakes, at the time, were only 5th in the MLS West! At least the Red Bulls were 2nd in the MLS East!
Most Europeans who observe the MLS say that it's about as good as England's second division, "The Championship." (No, I don't know who named it that, or what drugs he was on at the time. Nor do I know who named their third and fourth divisions "League One" and "League Two.") So, last night, Spurs were losing against MLS starters, and only beat MLS scrubs. In an exhibition, or, as soccer fans would say, a "friendly."
And they took the piss? They're lucky there wasn't a fight: The New Yorkers and New Jerseyans would have mussed 'em up but good, the dirty chumps. Wait, sorry, forgot to "speak English" there: The locals would have given them a right hiding, the bloody bastards!
The Challenge continued the next night, as another English club, Manchester City, takes on Sporting Clube de Portugal, a.k.a. "Sporting Lisbon." With Red Bull Arena being right across the Passaic River from the Portuguese-heavy (and Brazilian-laden as well, due to the language) Ironbound section of Newark (it's a 15-minute walk from Market Street and Ferry Street bars across the Jackson Street Bridge to the Arena), Sporting were a natural for this weekend, led by Portugal national-team stars, striker Liédson and goalie Tiago.
Man City, also stuck with Second Team Syndrome behind Manchester United (which barely beat MLS expansion team Philadelphia Union 1-0 the preceding Saturday), had recently been bought by Arab investors, making it the richest sports team on the planet. In the 2010-11 season that was about to begin, City won the FA Cup for the 1st time since 1969. The next season, they won the League for the 1st time since 1968, and went on to become English soccer's next great dynasty. But all that was yet to come.
In 2010, they featured 2 former Arsenal stars, the much-admired Senegalese/French midfielder Patrick Vieira, and the formerly-cheered, now lustily-booed-with-good-reason, Togolese striker Emmanuel Adebayor. But in this game, City lost 2-0 to Sporting, as Yannick Djaló scored both goals.
And on Sunday, July 25, there was a doubleheader, which I attended. Sporting and Spurs drew 2-2, while the Red Bulls beat Man City 2-1.
The standings for the Challenge worked like this: 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 1 point for each goal scored. With 2 losses and 1 goal, Man City got 1 point. For a win, a draw, and 3 goals, the Red Bulls got 6. With a win, a draw, and 4 goals, Sporting and Spurs each got 8 points. But Sporting had the superior goal difference, +2 to +1, and so Sporting were declared the winners and were awarded the trophy. No Player of the Tournament was named. Attendance for the doubleheader was 23,228, probably a sellout when freebies were counted. (Red Bull Arena officially seats 25,000 even.)
*
July 22, 2010 was a Thursday. These Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals, 10-4 at Yankee Stadium. Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez hit home runs. A-Rod had 4 RBIs, and he and Mark Teixeira each had 3 hits, supporting CC Sabathia.
* The New York Mets lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Hiroki Kuroda pitched 8 innings of 5-hit shutout ball, supported by a home run from Matt Kemp.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-0 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Carl Pavano -- yes, Yankee Fans, that Carl Pavano -- pitched a 5-hit shutout.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres, 8-0 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. Tim Hudson pitched 7 innings of 4-hit shutout ball.
* The Florida Marlins beat the Colorado Rockies, 3-2 at Sun Life Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. Ronny Paulino's singled drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 9th.
* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-2 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
* The Washington Nationals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-1 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-2 at Comerica Park in Detroit.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 2-0 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Over 11 innings, Phillies pitchers, including Cole Hamels over the 1st 8, allowed just 1 hit. Placido Polanco won it with a home run in the top of the 11th.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Los Angeles Angels, 3-2 at Rangers Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.
* The San Francisco Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-0 at Chase Field in Phoenix. Matt Cain pitched 8 innings of 3-hit shutout ball.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners, 8-6 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. The Mariners scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 9th to send the game to extra innings, but an RBI double by Eric Patterson won it for the Sox in the top of the 13th.
* And the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago White Sox, the Cleveland Indians, the Houston Astros, the Oakland Athletics and the Tampa Bay Rays were not scheduled to play.
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