TheMobyDick
02 Jun 2005, 02:40 PM
This from June 1st by George Vecsey who is a respected columnist for the paper.Part of a report on the England v Colombia game.
There was even a banner for West Ham United, from a working-class neighborhood east of downtown London, which last weekend defeated Preston North End in a playoff for the last available spot in the English Premiership. As it happens, I went to a game at West Ham two winters ago, on a drizzly nasty midweek evening, won on a goal in the 89th minute by Jermain Defoe, who was a substitute for England yesterday.
West Ham was headed toward relegation to the next-lowest division, but the sweet surprising rally gave the fans a bit of hope. They left their home stadium singing the team's anthem, the old standard "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles." The charm of the evening made me check out West Ham's scores during the past two years of exile.
The second half of the doubleheader was between the Chicago Fire and the MetroStars of Major League Soccer.
By the time the M.L.S. teams had reached the scruffy, imported grass field, the English team banners had been taken down for the trip home. Only a few thousand fans were rattling around when Amado Guevara of the MetroStars gave the home team a 2-1 victory in the closing seconds of injury time. His 20-yard blast into the upper right corner was, you might say, Beckhamesque. On the way out, nobody sang, "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles," but the M.L.S. had another little bit of history. It takes time.
There was even a banner for West Ham United, from a working-class neighborhood east of downtown London, which last weekend defeated Preston North End in a playoff for the last available spot in the English Premiership. As it happens, I went to a game at West Ham two winters ago, on a drizzly nasty midweek evening, won on a goal in the 89th minute by Jermain Defoe, who was a substitute for England yesterday.
West Ham was headed toward relegation to the next-lowest division, but the sweet surprising rally gave the fans a bit of hope. They left their home stadium singing the team's anthem, the old standard "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles." The charm of the evening made me check out West Ham's scores during the past two years of exile.
The second half of the doubleheader was between the Chicago Fire and the MetroStars of Major League Soccer.
By the time the M.L.S. teams had reached the scruffy, imported grass field, the English team banners had been taken down for the trip home. Only a few thousand fans were rattling around when Amado Guevara of the MetroStars gave the home team a 2-1 victory in the closing seconds of injury time. His 20-yard blast into the upper right corner was, you might say, Beckhamesque. On the way out, nobody sang, "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles," but the M.L.S. had another little bit of history. It takes time.