This year’s World Cup adventure for my fiancée, Johanna, and me extends to five of the 16 host cities, four in the U.S. and one in Canada. Throughout the next few weeks, I’ll be taking readers behind the scenes at what it was like to be a fan in each city and each stadium — what the city was like and what the stadium experience was like to make the fan experience as seamless as possible. Our fourth stop was San Jose, California.
This was the first time that I’ve gotten to see the U.S. men’s national team play in person as a fan. I covered the team in a friendly against Venezuela a few years ago, as I did for the women’s national team in a Concacaf tournament in California pre-pandemic. But this one felt different because it was different. It also, as the game progressed, made me think of my own soccer journey and how the World Cup, and the U.S. team, has been intertwined in it through memories.
I distinctly remember as a local youth soccer player watching the 1986 World Cup Final on NBC, cheering for West Germany and its green jerseys against Argentina. I remember the same for the 1990 World Cup semifinals, which were on TNT and seeing the Italy vs. Argentina semifinal go to penalty kicks after — no lie — the opening goal of the game for Italy was missed because TNT went on a commercial break in the game. The U.S. games were all during school times, so I never saw them play other than the highlights. I also remember going out after the semifinal and having my younger brother do ‘penalty kicks’ in the backyard as I stood between two trees, trying to make saves and diving around.
As the U.S. and Bosnia and Herzegovina walked out for the opening anthems, it made me think back to 1994 and seeing each of the U.S. games live that summer on TV. It was the Eric Wynalda free kick to tie the game against Switzerland and the defeat to Romania in the group stage finale but more than anything, it was the second group stage game and the famous upset of Colombia, the own goal tragedy and then the second-half goal by Earnie Stewart that sent me jumping up and down in the living room in front of the TV. It was the Round of 16 game against Brazil — played in San Jose, the same city that I watched the U.S. beat Bosnia in person.
The first U.S. goal by Folarin Balogun sent us jumping up and down in person for a 1-0 lead. It was then that I remembered watching in 1998, three defeats and a last-place finish amid sniping among team members and thinking how far the program has come for those who have been fans for so long. The chance to have the lead, and be on track for the Round of 16, brought back memories of the 2002 quarterfinal run in the Far East, when games were played overnight and yes, I stayed up to watch them and had a bad case of insomnia for months after. And yes, we were robbed against Germany in the quarterfinal; watch that game again on YouTube and you can’t tell me the better team that day won.
The second-half red card (we don’t need to discuss the political aftermath of said decision) by Balogun made me recall a spate of red cards against Italy in a 2006 group stage game. But the clinching goal by Malik Tillman, an otherworldly free kick captured by Johanna below, brought celebrations in the stands that resembled, in its own way, the explosion of happiness that came with Landon Donovan’s 2010 famous goal against Algeria to clinch advancing to the Round of 16, much as Tillman’s did.
Victory assured, we sang “Take Me Home, Country Roads” like everybody else and looked forward to the Round of 16 against Belgium, a game that would be a rematch from the 2014 World Cup (more on that in a later dispatch). From cheering as a kid to now as an adult, from playing pickup games in my backyard to watching the game in person, soccer has been perhaps the sport I’ve had the longest association with. To be at such a moment of pride for fans was amazing. And it brought back one other truism of sport — no matter the divide politically, economically, socially, there was no way that each of the people in our section had the same background. Yet for those two hours, we were one, United.
The Fan Experience
Getting to the Game: We left our hotel to walk to the nearby light rail station and got there at 3:03. By 3:28, we were off the light rail and starting our walk to the stadium. There were lots of volunteers directing traffic and answering questions, along with dozens of people hawking water, beer and White Claws plus offering match schedules and even red and yellow cards to wave from the stands. We were in our seats by 4:10 p.m.
The stadium: If one of us had our favorite team play at the 49ers this season, we would definitely come back to see Levi’s again. The ingress and egress were smooth, there were plenty of food stands on the concourse and our view of the game would be perfect for NFL action as well. The seats were comfortable and the arm rests did not jut out and double as cup holders, which is a small but important detail. For good reason, this stadium has hosted multiple Super Bowls and a CFP title game. It’s that nice.
Leaving the Game: For the mass transit side of things, it may have been the most efficient experience we’ve had. We left the stadium at 7:19 p.m., got in line for the light rail back to our stop nearby the hotel at 7:31 and we were on a train by 7:35, leaving five minutes later and getting back to our hotel in quick order. It was exceptionally well-organized.
One more thing … is where Johanna can say what she thinks about the experience. Here are her thoughts: We were super lucky in that we had our backs to the sun and the weather was mild for early July in California. This was my favorite stadium that we visited, and I loved that you could clearly see “Levi’s” underneath the FIFA-mandated tarp. The atmosphere was unreal. I am so thankful we got to experience it.
Where We Stayed
We stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott near the San Jose airport, which was a nice property with soccer touches in the lobby and, on the night we arrived, had about a dozen fans in the lobby watching games straight out of the Marriott commercial.
The Airport Experience
The San Jose airport is one of the smaller airports we’ve been in and it was super nice! The constant soccer touches throughout the terminal were noted and its convenience in getting around the terminal and security, taking maybe 5 minutes tops, made it one of our favorite stops.
Next stop on the journey: Seattle.
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