United Soccer League

Western Conference

Saturday 25th June 2016

Kick off 19.00 Actual 19.13

Oklahoma City Energy F.C. 1 Vancouver Whitecaps F.C.  II 1,  attendance 4,905

26′ 0-1

45′ + 2, 1-1

@ Taft Stadium

Northwest 27th Street

Oklahoma City, OK 73107

$10 Admission

Team sheet free, single card, printed double sided.

OKC Energy F.C. Joined the U.S.L. in 2014. Having previously been affiliated to Sporting Kansas City, they have this season joined with F.C. Dallas. They moved into their current home, Taft Stadium, in 2015. It was opened in 1934, but closed in 2013 whilst major renovation was carried out, reopening in 2015. Seating capacity was reduced from 18,000 down to the current 7,500, and an artificial pitch was laid, the red-stone facade being the only original feature remaining unaltered.

We did the sensible thing here and went for the cheapest tickets, the wing section of the stand that faced directly into the sun. Not a problem though, because like so many of the American ‘soccer’ teams, the constant bragging of selling out sections of the stadium, or even more ridiculous, the whole stadium, meant we would simply just go and sit elsewhere once inside. We opted for the best seats in the main stand, in the shade, that were selling at $30, but sparsely populated. No checks on tickets, in fact not sure if they had anyone to check anyway. And, as we rightly thought, nowhere near the crowd they were claiming and probably 3,000 at most.

Whitecaps were far better for the opening half hour, but seemed to lose their way once they went ahead. The second half tailed off dramatically, perhaps the heat had got to the players. It was unusual to have a fellow ‘hopper with me for company and the 200 miles drive back south didn’t feel as far as it normally would.

United Soccer League

Western Conference

Wednesday 22nd June 2016

Kick off 19.00 Actual 19.11

Rio Grande Valley F.C. Toros 1 Arizona United 1,  attendance 1,656

21′ 1-0

63′ 1-1

@ University Texas Rio Grande Valley Soccer and Track & Field Complex

North Jackson Road

Edinburg, TX 78541

$10 Admission

No programme.

This one was an ideal double with last nights match, although it meant a 330 mile drive south west to within a couple of miles of the Mexican border. It was also on the priority ‘ to do’ list, as the stadium is only being used as a temporary home whilst their own brand new stadium is completed. The fact of the distance involved and booking ahead for hotels and flights, meant booking tickets ahead as well to guarantee us getting in, which was done over the phone with tickets collected on arrival at the stadium. We needn’t have panicked, as our crowd estimate of 800 was on the generous side and nowhere near the official figure of double that. RGV Toros, who have joined the U.S.L. this season, are actually a hybrid affiliate of M.L.S. club Houston Dynamo, which sees Dynamo responsible for the tactical side of the club, with the ownership group, Lone Star, responsible for operations and day to day management.

After an overnight stop in Edinburg I was dropped off at McAllen International Airport, less than 5 miles from our hotel. I was taking the flight back to Dallas, but the driver would be taking in matches in San Antonio and Fort Worth, both at stadiums I had already visited, before arriving at our house late tomorrow evening.

Copa America Centenario

Semi Final

Tuesday 21st June 2016

Kick off 20.00 Actual 20.07

U.S.A. 0 Argentina 4,  attendance 70,858

3′ 0-1 E.Lavezzi

32′ 0-2 L. Messi

50′ 0-3 G. Higuain

86′ 0-4 G. Higuain

@ NRG Stadium

1, Reliant Park

Houston, TX 77054

Admission $100 + $11.80 fees, Print at home ticket.

No programme.

When I purchased my ticket for this one it looked like the match would be involving Argentina or Chile, as one of them would surely win Group D and then dispose of a second placed team from another group in the Quarter Final. As it turned out, it was Argentina who topped the group and then comfortably beat Venezuela 4-1 to reach the Semis. With the way the other groups panned out, it meant whoever got through from the Quarter Final between U.S.A. and Ecuador, it would be a third time I would see them play in the tournament. I would have much preferred it to have been Ecuador.

Originally, I was just going to drive down to Houston and return straight after the match. This plan changed when a mate of mine, who was over on a 3 week holiday in the States, which would include staying with us for a few days from the following weekend, also bought a ticket for this one, and I was certainly interested in the match he had planned for the following night. Southwest Airlines run an hourly service from Dallas Love Airport down to William P. Hobby Airport, in the south west of Houston, ideal for being picked up there and also convenient for the NRG Stadium. Oddly, considering we had both bought a ticket without knowing we would be going together, we were in the same section, his seat being just 7 rows back from mine. I flew down at noon and was picked up just after 1pm. I was very surprised when I got into the car to see that there was no SatNav, but my mate said we wouldn’t need one as he had looked at the map before he left the U.K. !

NRG Stadium is home to the Houston Texans of the N.F.L. having opened in 2002 as Reliant Stadium, before changing to its current sponsors name in 2013.  It was the first stadium in the N.F.L. to be constructed with a retractable roof and is due to host the 2017 Super Bowl, having previously hosted it in  2004. Capacity here is 71,795 and today’s attendance was the highest ever for a ‘soccer’ match in Houston.

As for the match. Well, it was pretty much the ‘Lionel Messi Show’, as he was outstanding, scoring a sublime free kick and making two of the other 3 goals. Had Ecuador made it through, then on this form, the result would have probably been the same.

North Texas Premier Soccer Association

Division 3 (Spring Season)

Play Off Final

Sunday 19th June 2016

Kick off 12.00 Actual 12.08

N.T.F.C. Royals 4 Guerreiros F.C. 1,  attendance 19

43′ 1-0

63′ 1-1

85′ 2-1

88′ 3-1

90′ 4-1

@ Premier Park, Pitch 5

11115, Elam Road

Balch Springs, TX 75180

No admission or programme.

Guerreiros looked to have blown their chances when they had a player red carded in the 21st minute, but, having gone behind just before halftime, they managed to level it on 63 minutes which is where the game completely turned, oddly when Royals had their ‘keeper sent off a minute later. 10-a-side suited Royals the better of the two and when they regained the lead so late in the game Guerreiros totally caved in.

This just leaves Pitch 4 and Pitch 7 to complete the set at Premier Park.

North Texas Premier Soccer Association

Division 1B (Spring Season)

Play Off Final

Sunday 19th June 2016

Kick off 10.00 Actual 10.06

Crusaders A.S.F. 0 Classics F.C. 2,  attendance 24

19′ 0-1

39′ 0-2

@ Premier Park, Pitch 6

11115, Elam Road

Balch Springs, TX 75180

No admission or programme.

Luckily the play offs today were scheduled using two of the seven pitches here that I had not seen a match on. It was also nice that there wouldn’t be any hanging around between matches, providing that there was no extra time in the first one.

Copa America Centenario

Group B

Sunday 12th June 2016

Kick off 18.30 Actual 18.36

Ecuador 4 Haiti 0,  attendance 49,438

11′ 1-0 E. Valencia

20′ 2-0 J. Ayovi

57′ 3-0 C.Noboa

78′ 4-0 A. Valencia

@ MetLife Stadium

1, MetLife Stadium Drive

East Rutherford, NJ 07073

Admission $72 + $16.25 fees, Print at home ticket

No programme.

First job today was to go to the airport and pick up a hire car for the day. I opted for a non toll route, having plenty of time for the 100 mile drive north east and arrived a good hour and a half before kick off which enabled me to get a good car park space for a quick exit after the match.

The MetLife Stadium has a capacity of 82,566 and is home to the New York Giants and New York Jets of the N.F.L. It is also where the tournament final will be held. It was opened in 2010, originally named New Meadowlands Stadium, and replaced Giants Stadium that stood just a few hundred yards away on what is now part of the car park here.

With Haiti unable to qualify for the quarter finals it meant Ecuador had a great chance of getting a win and going through in second place in the group behind Brazil, or so we thought. Unbelievably, Brazil lost their game 0-1 to Peru, which meant it was they who finished top of the group instead, with Brazil eliminated.  It was a really entertaining match and good atmosphere considering it was not even two thirds full. Ecuador had it sewn up pretty early on so the game was very open and great to watch as a neutral. Haiti played their part and although they lost all 3 games in the group they won’t be too concerned as they were never expected to do anything but.

After the match it only took about 5 minutes to exit the car park. This time I opted for the toll route back to Philadelphia, joining about a mile south of the stadium and incredibly staying on it for 71 miles. When I finally reached a toll booth I was expecting far more than the $11.20 charge, especially as it knocked around 30 minutes off the driving time. Hire car returned and back to the hotel as I wasn’t flying back until mid morning the following day.

Copa America Centenario

Group A

Saturday 11th June 2016

Kick off 19.00 Actual 19.08

U.S.A. 1 Paraguay 0,  attendance 51,041

27′ 1-0 C. Dempsey

@ Lincoln Financial Field

1, Lincoln Financial Field Way

Philadelphia, PA 19147

Admission $60 + $12.90 fees, Print at home ticket

No programme.

My original plan had been to fly into Philadelphia, pick up a hire car and drive to East Rutherford the following day, then fly back from New York. Ridiculous quotes of around $140 extra for dropping the car at a different location to the pick up point meant a different plan of action and today would be done by using Uber rides instead.

Lincoln Financial Field is home to Philadelphia Eagles of the N.F.L. as well as playing host to Temple University Owls American Football team. It was opened in 2003 and has a capacity of 69,176 which certainly wasn’t going to be tested today in a very poor turnout for the host team.

This was the last round of the group matches, with U.S.A. needing a win to guarantee at least second place in the group and progress to the quarter finals. In the end they finished top, as Colombia were surprisingly beaten 3-2 by Costa Rica in their final match. The U.S.A. were already 1-0 up when DeAndre Yedlin was sent off three minutes into the second half, having only received his first yellow card a minute before his second. They were never in danger of being pegged back though as Paraguay never had an attempt on goal that I can remember.

What should have been a routine flight home turned out to be anything but. Firstly, we left 20 minutes late, then en route we were told that as Dallas Love Airport had been closed for two hours due to thunderstorms, causing flight backlogs, that we would be held until we had a landing slot. Unfortunately, we were then told we hadn’t got enough fuel to do that, so were having to divert to Oklahoma City to refuel. Fianally arrived in Dallas over 6 hours after leaving Philadelphia, even taking the time difference into account. Pretty poor service from Southwest Airlines !

Copa America Centenario

Group C

Sunday 5th June 2016

Kick off 17.00 Actual 17.08

Mexico 3 Uruguay 1,  attendance 60,025

4′ 1-0 A. Pereira (OG)

74′ 1-1 D. Godin

85′ 2-1 R. Marquez

90′ + 2, 3-1 H. Herrera

@ University Phoenix Stadium

1, Cardinals Drive

Glendale, AZ 85305

Admission $60 + $12.65 fees, Print at home ticket.

A mid morning flight saw me arrive into Phoenix from Los Angeles. I needed a hire car today as I would not be doing an overnight stop, so apart from getting to and from the stadium, it would also act as luggage storage.

Before the tournament started this was looked at as the match that would decide who finishes top of the group. Whether that is how it turns out remains to be seen, but Mexico have now stretched their unbeaten run to 20 matches. There was a total farce concerning the organisation here, with the anthem of Chile being played instead of the Uruguayan  one, although even if I knew what each of them sounded like, I wouldn’t have known as the booing and whistling from the Mexican support totally drowned it out anyway. Pre game saw the usual charade of ‘musical chairs’ amongst the illiterates, something that you just have to accept if you attend these matches.

Mexico had got off to an excellent start and although they were pegged back they always looked like they would still nick it. Uruguay had lost Vecino to a red card on the stroke of halftime, before things were levelled up at 10-a-side when Guardado received a second yellow card just two minutes before Uruguay equalised. Edinson Cavani was excellent for Uruguay, but they really missed the injured Luis Suarez to partner him up front.

Mexico had at least 50,000 of the crowd on their side, many the worse for wear due to too much alcohol, the Uruguayans were in small pockets dotted around the stadium. Three  Uruguayan supporters near me took a fair few punches following their equaliser and again when Mexico went back in front. The stewards just stood back and watched, hoping it would be sorted out without them having to actually do their job.

The University Phoenix Stadium opened in 2006 and is home to the Arizona Cardinals of the N.F.L. having a capacity of 63,400. Despite the University of Phoenix name, it is only a corporate sponsorship deal and is not used as the home stadium of the university, as they have no intercollegiate athletics programme. The pitch here is fully retractable natural grass, being the first of its kind in the United States. Thankfully the stadium is also fully enclosed, as when I arrived in the car park an hour before kick off the car temperature gauge was showing 117 degrees. At least when I left the stadium it was much cooler, just 113 degrees.

Back to the airport, via a stop off for a meal and checked in nice and early. However, 25 minutes after checking in, I was told by the Spirit Airlines staff that the flight due to leave for Dallas just after midnight had been cancelled due to a lack of flight crew. It later transpired that the same thing had happened the night before. Luckily, being there early meant a bette chance of being transferred onto another airline, rather than wait until the following night, which was what many were being offered.  Unfortunately, the first available flight was the 05.00 on American Airlines. So it was three and a bit hours of broken sleep in the airport lounge, something that quite a few English Groundhoppers do regularly out of choice, as they are too tight to pay for a hotel room and having a shower is something that never occurs to them. Not my idea of how to travel, but as they say, you get what you pay for. At least I have no other flights booked with Spirit and I can’t see any reason for that being the case again.

Copa America Centenario

Group B

Saturday 4th June 2016

Kick off 19.00 Actual 19.06

Brazil 0 Ecuador 0, attendance 53,158

@ The Rose Bowl

1001, Rose Bowl Drive

Pasadena, CA 91103

Admission $110 + $16.55 fees, Print at home ticket

No programme.

An early flight down to Los Angeles, shared with what seemed to be the entire Columbian media, including one of the most instantly recognisable Colombian footballers, Carlos Valderrama, allowed plenty of time to collect a hire car and check in to my hotel. It may actually have worked out cheaper to travel with Uber, as on top of the 62 mile round trip to Pasadena, the parking was a rip off $40.

The Rose Bowl was built in 1922 and has a record attendance of 106,869, set in 1973, but nowadays it seats 92,542. It is primarily an American Football venue, hosting the annual Rose Bowl Game, from where it takes its name and is also home to U.C.L.A. Bruins of the N.C.A.A. As well as 5 Super Bowl games it is better known in proper football terms for hosting the final of the F.I.F.A. World Cup in 1994.

Ecuador should have won this and did have a goal ruled out, I think incorrectly, as replays on tv showed. Brazil were absolutely awful and quite how they made three substitutions without replacing the totally inept Philippe Coutinho didn’t help matters. Certainly a player who performs much better at club level. The real problem for them though, was the fact that Neymar was missing the tournament, as his club Barcelona wouldn’t allow his release for this and the upcoming Rio Olympics, the latter more important to Brazil as they were hosts. Certainly not football played in the style of the great Brazilian teams of the past and I wouldn’t imagine Dunga will remain as coach if this persists.

A very poor crowd I thought, although perhaps at a smaller stadium it wouldn’t have been so noticeable, with Ecuador having the greater share of support. At least it meant an easier exit from the car park and soon back at the airport to drop off the hire car.

Copa America Centenario

Group A

Friday 3rd June 2016

Kick off 18.30 Actual 18.40

U.S.A. 0 Colombia 2,  attendance 67,439

8′ 0-1 C. Zapata

42′ 0-2 J. Rodriguez (pen)

@ Levi’s Stadium

4900, Marie P. De Bartolo Way

Santa Clara, CA 95054

Admission $74 + $13.75 fees, Print at home ticket.

No programme.

An early flight from Los Angeles, courtesy of American Airlines, saw me land at San Jose airport nice and early and checked into my hotel shortly after 11am. With the temperature in the 90’s it meant the hotel pool was soon getting its use before going for lunch. No need for car hire here as the stadium is well served by the VTA (Valley Transportation Authority) with regular trains running from a stop around 300 yards from my hotel. A bargain price of $4 return and you stop right outside the stadium. It was well organised after the match, which meant I managed to get on the second train heading back south.

This was the first time I had been to a Continental Championship, so wasn’t sure what it would be like, but as everyone knows, the United States certainly know how to run an event. This tournament is to celebrate 100 years of the Copa America and is slotted in as an extra, being held outside South America for the first time. It is normally held every 4 years, Chile having won the last one as hosts in 2015. As well as being the first match of the tournament it doubled as the opening ceremony.

The Levi’s Stadium, which opened in 2014, is home to San Francisco 49ers of the N.F.L. and is situated about 40 miles south of San Francisco. Despite the giant screens showing the match as a sell out, it was short of the 68,500 capacity and the empty seats certainly backed that up.

It was a really good atmosphere, the Colombians probably having a 60-40 split of the support. U.S.A. contained a number of players with experience in the Premier League in England, namely Brad Guzan, Geoff Cameron and DeAndre Yedlin, with perhaps the best known being Clint Dempsey, now at Seattle Sounders. Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones have also played a few games in England. Colombia had a couple with Premier League experience,  Arsenal reserve ‘keeper David Ospina and Juan Cuadrado, who failed to make an impression at Chelsea, but probably their two best known were James Rodriguez and Carlos Bacca, who ply their trade at Real Madrid and A.C. Milan, respectively. The game was pretty much over once Colombia went in front and the second half was a stroll in the park for them. U.S.A. did plenty of running, but just didn’t have any creativity to make an impression.