July 26, 2014: Arsenal Play In New Jersey

Thierry Henry and Jack Wilshere

July 26, 2014: For the 4th time, Arsenal Football Club of North London came to North America.

The 1st was in 1972. On May 31, days after an FA Cup Final defeat and a year after winning the Football League and FA Cup "Double," they played the Miami Gatos of the old North American Soccer League at the Orange Bowl. Arsenal won 3-2, on goals by Charlie George, John Radford and Ray Kennedy. Attendance: A mere 4,725.

But they came back to this continent the next year anyway, possibly hoping that Canada's status as a nation still in the British Commonwealth would help attendance. If so, I can't find a reference to how many came out. On May 23, 1973, they played at Varsity Stadium in Toronto, against a team called Toronto Select. Charlie George, the 1971 FA Cup Final hero, scored again, in a game that ended, as a later song would say, "One-nil to The Arsenal."

They stayed away for a long time. On August 6, 1989, they returned to Miami, apparently forgetting that Florida is hot as hell, especially in the Summer. At the Dolphins' new stadium (then named Joe Robbie Stadium, now named Hard Rock Stadium), they came as newly-crowned Champions of the Football League Division One, predecessors of the Premier League.

They played Club Atletico Independiente, of Avellaneda in the province of Buenos Aires, the defending champions of Argentina. This was for the Zenith Data Systems Challenge Trophy, a phony "world championship." David "Rocky" Rocastle scored from open play in the 1st half, and from a penalty in the 2nd half, giving The Arsenal a 2-1 win. Attendance: 10,042, the vast majority of them Hispanics rooting for the South American team.

It would be a quarter of a century before they returned. They came to New York, held several events in The City during the week, and played at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, Hudson County, New Jersey, home of Major League Soccer's New York Red Bulls -- then featuring Arsenal's all-time leading scorer, Thierry Henry.

Because of my membership in the NYC Arsenal Supporters, I had the opportunity to be among the early birds eligible for the group's ticket offer, putting us in the upper deck of the North Ward, opposite the Red Bulls' supporters' section in the South Ward. It cost me $60 (about $75 in 2022 money), but I knew it would be worth it. Since I became an Arsenal fan in 2008, I have had online wisenheimers, some of them even Arsenal fans, taunt me by saying, "You've never seen your team in person!" That is no longer true.

People really did come from all over the world, not just all over the country. It was natural that people would come from London, elsewhere in England, elsewhere in the British Isles. But when the game was actually played, there were banners for fan clubs from Australia, China and Africa. This was huge. If someone had decided to move this game to the 82,000-seat MetLife Stadium at the Meadowlands, I guarantee it would have sold out.

Instead, it was played at Red Bull Arena. In North Jersey. My old stomping grounds. (Okay, mine were Bloomfield and Newark, not Harrison, across the Passaic River.) As they would say in London, The Arsenal were on my manor.

I got there early enough to see Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger give an interview. It was a thrill just to see him. It was a bigger thrill to hear a crowd announced as 25,219 -- most of them Arsenal fans, not (or not just) Red Bulls fans, give him a standing ovation right before the game, and sing his song, to the tune of "Guantanamera": "One Arsène Wenger! There's only one Arsène Wenger!" Especially given how much certain people claiming to be Arsenal fans have abused him, both in person and online.

Henry and Wenger

I arrived in time to watch pregame warmups. Due to the World Cup, several players who had played in it were allowed to stay home and rest, without having to make the flights and the appearances. From Champions Germany, midfielder Mesut Özil, forward Lukas Podolski and centreback Per Mertesacker stayed home.

This was not a tragedy for me: I had previously seen Özil play for Real Madrid against AC Milan at Yankee Stadium in 2012; and had seen Poldi and the 6-foot-6 Mertesacker play for Germany against the U.S. at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington in 2013.

Also not making the trip, due to their participation in the World Cup, were forwards Olivier Giroud of France and the newly-acquired Alexis Sánchez of Chile; midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain of England; and centrebacks Laurent Koscielny of France, Thomas Vermaelen of Belgium (Arsenal's official Captain) and Johan Djourou of Switzerland.

Despite having played for England, midfielder Jack Wilshere did make the trip. So did midfielder Santi Cazorla of Spain. They proved to be among the most popular players on the team, and interacted with the fans more than any other players.

The World Cup-induced shortage forced Wenger to bring a lot of young reserves, and put some players in unusual positions. Here was the starting lineup:

1 Goalkeeper: Wojciech Szczesny of Poland.
25 Right back: Carl Jenkinson of England.
45 Centreback: Isaac Hayden of England.
18 Centreback: Nacho Monreal of Spain, normally a left back.
3 Left back: Kieran Gibbs of England.
35 Right wing: Gedion Zelalem of the U.S.
8 Central midfield: Mikel Arteta of Spain, Captain for the day.
10 Central midfield: Jack Wilshere of England.
16 Central midfield: Aaron Ramsey of Wales.
19 Left wing: Santi Cazorla of Spain.
7 Forward: Tomáš Rosický of the Czech Republic, normally a midfielder.

Zelalem, born in Germany to Ethiopian parents, grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. He was only the 3rd American ever to play for Arsenal, after Frank Simek in 2003 and Danny Karbassiyoon in 2004. As a result of this game, he also became the 1st player from a CONCACAF nation to play for Arsenal in any CONCACAF nation, let alone his own.

Since this was a friendly, permissible substitutions were limited only by the size of the roster. For the 2nd half, Wenger made these changes: In goal, Szczesny off, Emiliano Martinez of Argentina on; at RB, Jenkinson off, Héctor Bellerin of Spain on; at CB, Hayden off, Ignasi Miquel of Spain on; at RW, Zelalem off, Number 20, Mathieu Flamini of France on; at CM, Arteta off, Number 34, Francis Coquelin of France on; and at CM, Ramsey off, Number 24, Abou Diaby of France on.

In the 71st minute, Wenger replaced Rosicky at forward with Number 38, Chuba Akpom of England; Cazorla on left wing with Number 53, Kristoffer Olsson of Sweden, and Wilshere in central midfield with Number 56, Jon Toral of Spain.

Only Gibbs and Monreal played the whole game -- ironically, 2 men who usually play the same position.

For the Red Bulls: Luis Robles of the U.S. was in goal, Chris Duvall of the U.S. was at right back, Jámison Olave of Colombia and Ibrahim Sekagya of Uganda were at centreback, Roy Miller of the U.S. was at left back; the midfielders were Lloyd Sam of England, Dax McCarty of the U.S., Tim Cahill of Australia, and Ambroise Oyongo of Cameroon; and the forwards were, of course, Thierry Henry of France; and Bradley Wright-Phillips of England, son of Ian Wright, who set Arsenal's team record for career goals, 185 -- broken by Henry, who raised it to 228.

Subs: 46th, Armando Lozado of Spain at CB for Olave, Eric Alexander of the U.S. at LB for Miller and Andre Akpan of the U.S. at FW for BWP; 57th, Peguy Luyindula of France at FW for Henry; 62nd, Matt Miazga of the U.S. at CB for Sekagya; 63rd, Michael Bustamante of Colombia at MF for Cahill; 70th, Ruben Bover of Spain at MF for McCarty; 78th, Kosuke Kimura at RB for Duvall; 81st, Ryan Meara of the U.S. in goal for Robles, and Connor Lade of the U.S. for Sam (with the South Ward fans chanting, "We got Lade!"). Only Oyongo played the whole game.

Listed time for the kickoff was 5:00 PM U.S. Eastern Time -- meaning Arsenal fans back in London had a kickoff time of 10:00 PM. A small price to pay for those of us having to watch the traditional 3:00 PM Saturday kickoff at 10:00 AM -- leading to the title of a San Francisco-based Arsenal blog, 7AM Kickoff.

There was a light rain falling for much of the day, and maybe they waited a few minutes for it to stop. It did. At 5:12 PM on July 26, 2014, Henry kicked off, and, from that moment onward, anyone who has ever said that I've never seen Arsenal play live has been a liar.

As we would say in American football, these bellends keep "moving the goalposts."

Being an exhibition game, the action wasn't especially intense. No one wanted to get hurt -- and, given both teams' tendencies toward an "injury crisis," this was understandable. The point for the Red Bulls was to give themselves some credibility alongside one of the world's most beloved sports teams; the point for The Arsenal was to grow their brand in the U.S.; and the point for both was much more to put on a show than to win. This was not a Herman Edwards contest: Playing to win the game was secondary.

In the 32nd minute, Henry took a corner kick. Sekagya got to it, headed it, and it landed in front of BWP, who put it past Szczesny. There would be no "One-nil to The Arsenal" song today; it was 1-0 to the Jersey Boys.

Given their experience -- even for the kids -- Arsenal were not fazed. In the 38th, Zelalem passed to Wilshere, who fired at goal, but Robles made a great save to stop him.

Henry was no longer the best player in the world, as he was while with Arsenal from 2002 to 2006, but he still had a lot of moves. When he was subbed off in the 52nd minute, he got as good an ovation as he ever has.

Shortly thereafter, Diaby got the ball. Following a broken ankle in the 2005-06 season -- and he was injured on purpose by Sunderland's Dan Smith -- injuries had rendered the hope that he would be the "next Patrick Vieira" for Arsenal impossible. He was beloved by Arsenal fans, but he always seemed to play poorly when I watched on TV. He didn't seem to grasp that you're supposed to pass to the guys wearing the same color shirts. As Yogi Berra would say if he were a soccer fan, Even when he can play, he can't play.

Which makes what happened here a great irony: Diaby charged toward the north goal, right under us, and fired a shot past Robles. Tie ballgame! The 1st Arsenal goal I had ever seen, and it was by Diaby!

No, it wasn't: The linesman ruled it offside. Incorrectly, I thought. Some things never change: Even in meaningless games on other continents, The Arsenal get screwed over by the officials.

Aside from that, the officiating wasn't bad. There was very little in the way of dirty play. Cahill was shown a yellow card at the end of the 1st half, and Kimura received one in the game's final minute.

In the 79th, Akpom broke away, and it was just he and Robles. A shot, and Robles made a kick-save with his left foot that, across the Passaic at the Prudential Center, New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur would have appreciated.

Since this was a friendly, and there were no injuries, there was no stoppage time at the end of either half. Final score, New York Red Bulls 1, Arsenal 0. Or, as it would be written in world soccer circles, Metro 1-0 Arsenal.

I left the game disappointed at the result. But thrilled at the entire experience. I saw The Arsenal play in New Jersey, something that would have been unimaginable 10 years earlier, and incredibly unlikely even 6 years earlier when I started watching them, just as the growth of international TV coverage of soccer was in mid-explosion.

I saw Arsenal shirts in the Ironbound bars, in Newark Penn Station, and on New Jersey Transit trains.

I saw a team that knew that, due to finances, I couldn't go to see them, so they came to see me.

The Yankees, the Devils, and any other team I support have never had to do that, because they're close. The Arsenal are not.

Yet they came to me. And I was there.

I will always be grateful to them for that. There have been times when I've watched them when I've regretted following this sport. But I have never regretted making them my team.

Arsenal returned to North America in the Summer of 2016, played 2 games in California. On July 28, they beat the MLS All-Stars, 2-1 at what's now PayPal Park in San Jose, home of MLS' San Jose Earthquakes, on goals by Joel Campbell and Akpom. And on July 31, they beat C.D. Guadalajara of Mexico, a.k.a. "Chivas," 3-1 at what's now Dignity Health Sports Park in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, home of MLS' L.A. Galaxy, on goals by Rob Holding, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Akpom. Despite his success in these friendlies, Akpom never impressed Arsenal management, who loaned him out to 6 teams in 5 years, before selling him in 2018.

In the Summer of 2019, Arsenal came to America to participate in the International Champions Cup. As a warmup, on July 15, they went to Dick's Sporting Goods Park in the Denver suburb of Commerce City, Colorado, and beat the host team, the Colorado Rapids -- also owned by Stan Kroenke -- 3-0. Goals were scored by Bukayo Saka, James Olayinka and Gabriel Martinelli.

On July 17, they beat Bayern Munich 2-1 at Carson, thanks to an own goal and an 88th minute winner by Eddie Nketiah. On July 20, they beat Fiorentina of Florence, Italy, 3-0 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, home of the NFL's Carolina Panthers, with Nketiah scored 2 and Joe Willock 1. And on July 23, they played Real Madrid at FedEx Field in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland, home of the NFL team now known as the Washington Commanders. Alexander Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored in a 2-2 draw, but Real Madrid won the game on penalties, 3-2.

Arsenal had intended to come back for the Florida Cup in 2021, but a COVID breakout canceled that. So they tried again this Summer, and just wrapped up a 3-0 trip. On July 16, they beat Liverpool-based Everton 2-0 at M&T Bank Stadium, home of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens, with goals by Gabriel Jesus and Saka. On July 20, they went to Exploria Stadium in Orlando, and beat MLS' Orlando City 3-1, with goals by Martinelli, Nketiah and Ainsley Maitland-Niles. And on July 23, they clobbered West London's Chelsea, 4-0 at Camping World Stadium (formerly known as the Citrus Bowl) in Orlando, with goals by Jesus, Martin Ødegaard, Saka and Sambi Lokonga.

Overall, Arsenal's record in the United States is 10-2. In North America, 11-2. Not too shabby.

UPDATE: In the Summer of 2023, Arsenal beat the MLS All-Stars, 5-0 at Audi Field in Washington. They played in New Jersey again, at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands, and lost to Manchester United, 2-0 in front of 82,262 -- though that sellout, which I predicted 9 years earlier, was achieved with a lot of Man U fans. And it did not include me. And they beat FC Barcelona, 5-3 before 70,223 at SoFi Stadium outside Los Angeles. This made Arsenal's record in the State of New Jersey 0-2, and in the other 49 States combined 10-0. That wouldn't bother me so much if I weren't from New Jersey!

FedEx Field in Landover is now Commanders Field. Exploria Stadium in Orlando is (now Inter&Co Stadium.

Arsenal played in America again in Summer 2024. On July 24, at Dignity Health Sports Park, they drew 1-1 with Bournemouth, and then won 5-4 on penalties: On July 27, the beat Manchester United, 2-1 at SoFi. And on July 31, they lost to Liverpool, 2-1 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

*

July 26, 2014 was a Saturday. This games were played in Major League Baseball that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-4 at Yankee Stadium. Chris Capuano had a good start, and Brian McCann and Carlos Beltrán hit home runs, but the bullpen blew it. In his last season, Derek Jeter went 2-for-4 with a walk.

* The New York Mets lost to the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-2 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 10-6 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Antonio Bastardo melted down in the top of the 10th inning, including giving up a home run to Nick Evans.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres, 5-3 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-0 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. How many Rays pitchers does it take to pitch a shutout? This time, 5.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Washington Nationals, 1-0 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. Johnny Cueto pitched 7 innings of 4-hit ball, and 2 relievers completed the 4-hit shutout.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 6-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 7-0 at Target Field in Minneapolis. Chris Sale pitched 8 innings of 5-hit shutout ball.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-5 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers, 5-1 at Globe Life Park (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Miami Marlins beat the Houston Astros, 7-3 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-1 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-0 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Matt Shoemaker pitched 7 innings of 3-hit shutout ball, and 2 relievers completed the 4-hit shutout.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 5-0 at AT&T Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco. Clayton Kershaw pitched a 3-hit shutout. But the Giants went on to win the World Series.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles, 4-3 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.

July 22, 2010: The New York Football Challenge

Dane Richards (left) and Wayne Bridge

July 22, 2010: The New York Football Challenge begins at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. As Tony Reali of ESPN's Around the Horn would say, "And by football, I mean futbol!"

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.

March 20, 2010: Red Bull Arena Opens

March 20, 2010: Red Bull Arena opens in Harrison, Hudson County, New Jersey, as the new home of Major League Soccer's New York Red Bulls.

Known as the New York/New Jersey Metro Stars from MLS' 1st season in 1996 until 2005, and often still called "Metro" for short by fans who don't like the corporate rebranding, the team had played at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands of East Rutherford, Bergen County from its inception. The 78,000-seat tin can on the Hackensack River was too big for an MLS team, and its artificial turf surface was bad. So they wanted a smaller, soccer-specific stadium.

The Harrison site was chosen because the Town of Harrison, the Town of Kearny to the north, and the City of Newark across the Passaic River to the south were all hotbeds of American soccer fandom. All three towns had a significant group of Portuguese immigrants, with Brazilians having recently moved in due to the linguistic similarity. Newark still had a sizable Italian community. And both Harrison and Kearny were loaded with Scots and Irish who loved soccer.

In addition, Harrison had a station on the PATH (Port Authority Trans-Hudson) system, a subway system (much of it, including in Harrison, above-ground) connecting Midtown Manhattan and Lower Manhattan with the New Jersey cities of Hoboken, Jersey City and Newark. The Harrison station was built in 1937, and was much too small to handle a sellout crowd, and a new station finally opened in 2018.

Red Bull Arena seats 25,000 people in two decks. Fortunately, the food is good, and the bathrooms are regularly cleaned. Unfortunately, the concession stands and the bathrooms are only on the first deck.

Newark divided its city government into "wards," and the Arena's South Ward is home to the team's strongest supporters' groups, including the Empire Supporters Club (fans from New York City) and the Garden State Ultras (fans from New Jersey).

The Arena opened with a friendly match, as the Red Bulls beat Santos FC of Brazil 3-1. On March 27, they played the building's 1st competitive match, with the Red Bulls beating the Chicago Fire, 1-0. Joel Lindpere scored the 1st competitive goal in the Arena.

Also in 2010, it hosted its 1st international match, with Turkey beating the Czech Republic; and the New York Football Challenge, a 4-day event featuring the Red Bulls, English teams Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, and Lisbon team Sporting Clube de Portugal, who won it.

The Arena hosted the 2011 MLS All-Star Game, with Manchester United beating a team of MLS All-Stars, 4-0. On October 11 of that year, it hosted its 1st match of the U.S. men's national team, which lost 1-0 to Ecuador. The U.S. women's national team debuted there on June 20, 2013, beating South Korea 5-0.

In 2020, the Arena became the new home of the National Women's Soccer League's NJ/NY Gotham FC. It also hosts some home games of MLS' New York City FC when a scheduling conflict arises at Yankee Stadium, and hosted "home games" for CF Montreal in 2020 due to COVID restrictions preventing them from re-entering Canada.

Since moving into the new building, the Red Bulls have won 3 Supporters' Shields for best overall regular-season record, but have failed when it counts: They've gotten to the MLS Cup Semifinals in 2014, 2015 and 2018; to the U.S. Open Cup Final in 2017; and to the CONCACAF Champions League Semifinals in 2018.

UPDATE: On December 11, 2024, Red Bull actually took its name off the stadium, and sold the naming rights to Authentic Brands Group, which bought the magazine Sports Illustrated and its affiliated properties from Time, Inc. in 2018. The stadium was renamed Sports Illustrated Stadium.

*

March 20, 2010 was a Saturday. There were 4 other games involving MLS teams that day, none in league play. In the Carolina Challenge Cup in Charleston, South Carolina, D.C. United beat the hosts, 2nd-division team Charleston Battery, 2-0. And Real Salt Lake beat Toronto FC, 1-0.

At Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara, California, just outside San Jose, the San Jose Earthquakes and the Portland Timbers played to a 1-1 draw. And at Harder Stadium in Santa Barbara, California, the Houston Dynamo beat the Los Angeles-based Chivas USA, 3-1.

Also, Arsenal beat West Ham United, 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium in North London.

Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 7 games played in the NBA that day:

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Toronto Raptors, 100-90 at the Izod Center at the Meadowlands.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 98-84 at the Wachovia Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Miami Heat beat the Charlotte Bobcats, 77-71 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. (It's now named the Kaseya Center.)

* The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Golden State Warriors, 123-107 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks, 102-93 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Denver Nuggets, 102-97 at the Pepsi Center in Denver. (It's now named the Ball Arena.)

* And the Utah Jazz beat the New Orleans Hornets, 106-86 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City (then named the EnergySolutions Arena).

And there were 11 games played in the NHL:

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the St. Louis Blues, 1-0 at the Prudential Center in Newark. Alex Steen scored the only goal of the game, with 13 seconds left in the 1st period.

* The Atlanta Thrashers beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-2 at the Philips Arena in Atlanta. (It's now named the State Farm Arena.)

* The Washington Capitals beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-1 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa. (It's now named the Benchmark International Arena.)

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Florida Panthers, 3-1 at the BankAtlantic Center in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida. (It's now named the Amerant Bank Arena.)

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-2 at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh (as the Civic Arena was then known). Jamie McBain scored the winning goal with 1 second left in overtime.

* On CBC's Hockey Night In Canada, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2 in a shootout at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. (It's now named the Scotiabank Arena.)

* The Nashville Predators beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 1-0 at the Sommet Center in Nashville. (It's now named the Bridgestone Arena.) Cody Franson scored the only goal of the game, 1:54 into overtime.

* The Dallas Stars beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-4 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* The Phoenix Coyotes beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 5-4 in a shootout at the Jobing.com Arena in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona. (It's now named the Desert Diamond Arena.)

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the New York Islanders, 1-0 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. (It's now named the Crypto.com Arena.)

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-3 at General Motors Place in Vancouver. (It's now named the Rogers Arena.) Henrik Zetterberg scored the winning goal with just 1 second left in overtime. This may have been the 1st time 2 NHL games were settled with one second remaining in overtime.

* And the New York Rangers, the Boston Bruins, the Minnesota Wild, the Colorado Avalanche, the Calgary Flames, the Edmonton Oilers, the Anaheim Ducks and the San Jose Sharks were not scheduled.