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[AreliusII]

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[AreliusII]

07/18/2005
Deep roots made soccer’s big day even sweeter
PETE HAYES , Sports editor

CHICAGO - Soccer bashers should have been warned to stay away from Chicago Saturday. For at least one day, soccer was king in the Windy City.
Real Madrid, the pro soccer team from Spain that boasts five of the world’s nine richest soccer players, was in town to face Mexican power Chivas Guadalajara.

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You ask, "So what?" A Spanish soccer team and a Mexican soccer team in Chicago?

You bet. What a day. With two preliminary games prior to the international friendly match, it amounted to a soccer tripleheader. A kicker’s extravaganza.

Who cared? Well, at least 54,432 screaming fans who jammed Soldier Field to watch the game. And throw many more screaming, adoring fans of Real Madrid’s most famous player, one David Beckham.

You remember. Bend It Like Beckham. That’s the guy.

Beckham is the highest-paid soccer player in the world. The former Manchester United star pulls down the equivalent of $30 million a year from Real Madrid.

Not only is Beckham an outstanding athlete, he something of a teenie boppers’ dreamboat. A truckload of fans of the female persuasion - some with tickets, as well as many without - strained for a glimpse at him before and after the match.

The match itself was as good an exhibition as you’d want to see. Chivas Guadalajara drew first blood, but Real Madrid roared back with three unanswered goals to take a 3-1 victory.

But Saturday wasn’t so much about who won and who lost. It was a day to show that soccer is much more than a fad in the U-S-of-A.

Soccer’s here to stay, folks. And the uninformed who find humor in making light of the beautiful game better find something else at which to poke fun. If someone had dared make a soccer joke Saturday in the crowd at Soldier Field, they might not have made it out alive.

Beckham paid tribute to the fans. "The atmosphere here was electric today," Beckham said. "Especially after the scoring started. There’s definitely potential for soccer in the States."

Not to pick nits, Mr. Beckham, but the days of soccer’s potential in the States are actually over. Soccer has arrived. The days of potential were some 30 years ago. Back in the days when small groups of guys gathered on fields in places like Fairmont City and Forest Park to play soccer whenever they could.

Once you’ve been hooked by soccer, you’re hooked for life.

Soccer’s roots may not be as deep here as they are in Spain or in England, but I still get a lump in my throat when I drive past Holy Rosary in Fairmont City. There has been some great (and some not-so-great) soccer played on the field behind that place (and in later years, there was plenty of beer consumed afterward).

Those were the days when there was no IHSA-sanctioned soccer, so if you wanted to play high-school soccer, you had to play it in St. Louis - in the winter. Youngsters nowadays on club teams have no clue. They get two sets of sparkling uniforms, a warmup and a backpack. They are carted hither and yon by the mom-and-dad-limo service for tournaments. Sometimes they have to play (gasp) two or three games in a day.

They should try playing on an unmarked field with maybe a net in one of the goals. Dribbling was learned by trying to keep the ball while avoiding the rocks and pieces of brick and glass.

In sub-freezing temperatures.

And loving it.

That’s why Saturday’s celebration in Chicago was so awe-inspiring. For us long-timers who’ve seen our sport grow from infancy, it does our hearts good to see so many people who feel the same way gathered into the same place.

Saturday’s soccer celebration was a sight the like of which haven’t been seen in this state since the World Cup in 1990. But the crowd was even bigger this time. That’s how far soccer has come.

As the thousands ventured toward the stadium, traffic along Lakeshore Drive slowed and became a virtual parking lot. You know, it’s inspiring to be part of a group that large all thinking alike - at least for part of the day.

Oh, there were some folks who got ticked off about the traffic problems, of course. There was some cursing and car horns blaring.

But they were probably Cubs fans.

phayes93 [at] hotmail.com