The lad and I went to see NY Red Bulls vs LA Galaxy on Saturday night – his first MLS game and David’s first start for the Galaxy. I thought it would be a good opportunity for him (the lad, not Becks at this stage of his career) as he isn’t yet comfortable being surrounded by large numbers of people screaming, howling, cheering & booing. I mean, it’s MLS – home of the soccer moms and teenagers cheering everyone hoping someone ‘shoots a goal.’ How wrong can you be?
More pictures here.
Our seats were at the back of the second tier, seats that would normally be empty in a normal MLS game, where 12k or so supporters would be rattling around in the ~80k-capacity Giants Stadium. We had a low roof over us and were one section to the right of the official standing area, where the boys that make most of the noise are. So the sources of noise were nicely in place. All they needed was a catalyst, and they got one with three goals in the first eight minutes. It went on like that and we had to leave when the score was 4-3 to make sure we got on a bus (I’ve been stuck there for hours before) and by the time we got on the bus we found out it finished 5-4 to NY.
Beckham was almost equally cheered (at the start everything he did, even a simple 5 yard pass was gushed over) and booed (each time he took a free kick this rose to a crescendo). But I don’t think they really meant the boos. The whole thing was something of a circus, and the crowd were just playing their roles. No doubt some of them would dispute that.
