Thierry Henry and Jack Wilshere
From where I currently live, it is 5 miles to the nearest college football team, Rutgers; 6 miles to RU's basketball arena; 12 miles to the nearest professional baseball team, the Somerset Patriots; 25 miles to the nearest NHL team, the New Jersey Devils; 27 miles to the nearest MLS team, the New York Red Bulls; 35 miles to the nearest NFL teams, the New York Giants and the New York Jets; 35 miles to the nearest NBA team, the Brooklyn Nets; 36 miles to Madison Square Garden; 44 miles to the nearest baseball team, the New York Yankees; 47 miles to the New York Mets; 66 miles to the South Philadelphia Sports Complex; 246 miles to the Yankees' arch-rivals, the Boston Red Sox...
And 3,521 miles to the English soccer team I love, Arsenal Football Club. That's 46 miles from home to the International Terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, 3,451 air miles to Heathrow International Airport in London; and 24 miles from Heathrow to the Emirates Stadium.
Since I became an Arsenal fan in 2008, I have had online wisenheimers taunt me by saying, "You've never seen your team in person!"
That is no longer true.
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For the 4th time, Arsenal 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), 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. Yesterday was the day.
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They would come to New York, hold several events in The City during the week, and play at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, Hudson County, New Jersey, home of Major League Soccer's New York Red Bulls -- 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, but I knew it would be worth it.
There was a big get-together the night before, along East 14th Street in Manhattan's East Village, which, on game day, becomes what I like to call Gooner Alley. The 2 main bars showing Arsenal matches were a part of it, the Blind Pig between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, and O'Hanlon's between 1st and 2nd. Two other bars on the block also had events.
Andrew Mangan, the charming if profane Irishman who writes Arseblog, was there. It was great to meet "Arseblogger," someone who has been a major lifeline between the team and people all over the world.
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.
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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 could have taken the bus from East Brunswick to Port Authority Bus Terminal, and then the PATH (Port Authority Trans-Hudson) train to Harrison. Instead, I set out to take a local bus to New Brunswick, the New Jersey Transit Northeast Corridor train to Penn Station in Newark, and then walk down East Market Street in Newark's Ironbound section, past the bars that cater to Red Bulls fans before and after the games, and during away games, and then walk over the River via the Jackson Street Bridge to the stadium.
That was not an option. When I got to Newark Penn, an announcement said that the bridge was closed. I had to take the short PATH ride to Harrison.
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.
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 (who wears Number 11 for Arsenal), forward Lukas Podolski (9) and centreback Per Mertesacker (4) 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 "Big Fucking German" 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 (12) and the newly-acquired Alexis Sánchez of Chile (17); midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain of England (15); and centrebacks Laurent Koscielny of France (6), Thomas Vermaelen of Belgium (5, Arsenal's official Captain) and Johan Djourou of Switzerland (20).
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, has lived in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. from age 9 to his current age of 17. He is 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, Number 26, Emiliano Martinez of Argentina on; at RB, Jenkinson off, Number 39, Héctor Bellerin of Spain on; at CB, Hayden off, Number 48, Ignasi Miquel of Spain on; at RW, 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 37, 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.
UPDATE: Of course, being what the English call "bellends" (the American equivalent would, literally, be "dickheads"), they qualify it: They say friendlies don't count, or that I've never seen them play in England. And if I did see them play in anything other than a Premier League match, they'd say that doesn't count, either.
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 may no longer be the best player in the world, as he was for Arsenal from 2002 to 2006, but he's still got 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 have rendered the hope that he would be the "next Patrick Vieira" for Arsenal impossible. He is beloved by Arsenal fans, but he always seems to play poorly when I watch. He doesn'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.
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