Matchday again. Always a nervous time when you support England and West Ham. And always a busy time too.
I got up early and popped round to Pecks to get some breakfast for myself, Kirsty, Jordan and Nathan to set all of us up for long day ahead. Jordan and Nathan had a busy day ahead but weren’t coming to the game. Pecks is one of those places that sells ‘sandwiches’ that come in all shapes and very big sizes. Nathan said that the man who makes the sandwiches has made them for as long as he has lived in Brooklyn so estimated it was probably something like 800 plus for him alone!
Kirsty and I walked for about 15 mins and took the Subway at Clinton Washington into Manhattan and Penn Station. We jumped into a supermarket, picked up some beers and seltzers and headed for the train. The New Jersey Transit system had laid on trains that went to the stadium. Very reasonably priced at over $200 for the two of us! The ride was about 30 mins!
We had to queue into Penn Station, show our match and train tickets and get a wristband. The whole station had been closed to anyone not travelling to the game and the queue gently wound through the station. Everyone was packed onto the trains, standing room only, until they were full and sent on our way. We met a nice couple who were on their way to their first ever soccer game, so we shared our beers and briefed them as to what to expect. Boo the hydration breaks and boo any random celebrities that FIFA deemed to put on the screen. They found it hilarious.
We were all off the train at Seacaucus and then all on another train to head to the Met Life stadium. You would have thought we would have had a direct train for $200! It turned out that our friends Paul and Johnny, both West Ham fans were also on the same train as us, but at the back so we agreed to wait on the station to meet up. That all worked smoothly and the next stop was to find somewhere to drink.
As with all these US stadiums, there really isn’t much by way of local infrastructure. Stadiums are very much out of town and on retail parks. More West Ham friends Colin and Barrie were already in position at the American Dream mall and so we headed over to there. As we walked through the multi storey car park, who should we bump into but Colin and Barrie! They were headed to the stadium, so time for a quick catch up and pictures and onwards.
The mall was full to the brim with football fans, a huge amount of Panama fans, which is unsurprising given the size of the Panamanian diaspora here, which is much like every other diaspora, enormous! Every bar was rammed and the queues were all over an hour. Our friends Kelvin and Liza had found a place called Dream 360 which was an Asian restaurant with a bar. They had managed to get in and so Paul, Johnny, Kirsty and myself slipped in. We told our friends Mark and Sam to meet there too. As with all these places it was chaos. They just aren’t geared up for thirsty football supporters and simply cannot cope. We managed to order up 32 beers so that we didn’t waste time in future.
It was now 2pm, with the game some three hours away. All was well. It was tipping down with rain outside. Yet again we were being spared hot temperatures on match day. A real blessing, not for us but for the team.
We decided to head to the stadium in good time, you can never rely on how long it takes to get through security, so always best to allow more time. As always, the security staff and police were all really friendly and pretty efficient. I bid Kelvin farewell, we were both nervous and both predicted 2-1 to England.
The atmosphere was electric, every single fan played their part. Hats off to everyone really, it’s what makes The World Cup very, very special. We bumped into our old friend Shane, a fellow veteran of many World Cups and took some pictures. Pictures which none of us had been able to locate since!
As kick off approached rain was getting heavier and heavier but it wasn’t cold. We were right behind the goal, again so really close to the action.
England could not afford to fall into the same trap that Ghana laid for us with their low block and excessively defensive approach. Panama were effectively playing for pride as they were out, but those teams are always the most dangerous. Tuchel had changed the team, out went Noni, Spence, Gordon, James and Rice, in came Rashford, Saka, Rogers, O’Reilly and Quansah. At no stage in the game did I ever not think we were in full control of the game and we were not going to do anything except win, but clearly back home that wasn’t the case given the amount of messages I was getting from all of my friends all of which were resoundingly and universally negative. It confirms what I have always thought, the game you watch live at the stadium is nothing like the one you see on TV.
Anyway, after a bit of toil, we scored twice and ran out 2-0 winners. Relief all round. Atlanta here we come as Senegal awaits. Or so we thought.
We met up with Mark, Sam, Kelvin, Liza, Barrie, Colin, Steve and his son in the same bar, watched the Colombia vs Portugal and DR Congo vs Uzbekistan all at the same time. Somehow, our opponents in the round of 32 became DR Congo and not Senegal. Does anyone actually know how the system of third place teams and who they play actually works? Whoever you end up playing in the knockouts, it’s pure jeopardy. Literally winner takes all, losers go home, players and fans!
We let the human traffic calm down and headed back to Penn. We were off to a rooftop Pride party in Williamsburg, which really is a cool part of town.
As we approached, we heard our friends shouting down at us and as if by magic, a front door key arrived on a rope for us to key ourselves in. How cool was that!
Everyone, and I mean everyone at the party was so lovely. We met so many great people. Nathan was DJing and did an amazing job. Jordan made sure we met everyone. We took a cab home with Robyn and Tim who were hilarious and couldn’t get the door open for a while. Don’t ask.
A perfect end to a perfect day.
Thank you New York & New Jersey.
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