Day 4 (USA vs ENGLAND)

Thus far the most exciting day was among us young American students, USA vs. ENGLAND was finally here. The excitement was surmounting during our morning classes, each person wearing their red white and blue was mentally preparing for the duel later that evening. The match was held in Rustenburg a solid 2 hour drive from our residence. And due to some drunken mishaps of one of my favorite people there was no drinking allowed.

Arriving in Rustenburg, there seemed to only be one bar and it was chalked full of English fans. Nonetheless we swallowed our pride and entered the venue. The first sign of the difference in football culture came when our group, waving American flags and yelling U—S— A chants, walked into an all English bar before the game. A slew of songs about football and the Queen of England seemed like a foreign language to us. Of course, our comments and chants about Landon Donovan and the red, white and blue were met with looks of confusion by the British. However, by the end our time at the bar, after some friendly conversations and banter, respect was granted by the fans of the football giant, England.
A side note the bar was completely out of draft beer after the shindig and the owner admitted to never serving so many people all in one day.

Liquored up and ready to cheer we headed to the beautiful stadium and took our seats. The 46,000 seats were full of red white and blue compassionate fans but I must say that there were far more English fans than Americans.

When U.S. striker / midfielder Clint Dempsey, loved more by the English than the U.S. for his spectacular play for the English club Everton, equalized the score near the end of the first half, many of us stood and screamed, “We’re here!!!!!” And indeed, in one of the biggest games in U.S. soccer history, the U.S. had risen to the occasion at the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

The whistle sounded and a 1-1 draw went into the books, the English fans, hoping to trash the Americans on the football field, were stunned with blank faces. Meanwhile, U.S. fans, cheering constantly and hoping not to get slashed by a very talented English team, smiled with joy at the 1 point result.

Afterwards, U.S. fans met with fellow U.S. fans at the stadiums entrance and danced in a circle to the tuned chant of “Zombie Nation.” English fans, no longer enthusiastic about giving the U.S. some well-deserved respect, scoffed but we continued dancing because we knew our feisty crew had battled the faces of the greatest sport in the world to a wash.

What a day