Just a couple of notes. Early on the morning of September 11th, 2000, the Guatemalan team Mossad security guard got nailed in the balls before firing a taser, that's why he missed. And a couple of participants went down the stairs, avoiding the police altogether. Pizza's where ordered to be delivered to the rooms an hour later. Someone claimed to have hired a hooker. Several DCU boys were present. Grant Wahl was a young buck but still didn't have any hair to speak of.... But he showed up and wrote the story. He was one of us. https://vault.si.com/vault/2000/09/...upport-boosted-the-us-to-a-win-over-guatemala
I was at that game. We had seats about 6 rows back on the quiet side right behind the benches, I'd had higher hopes for seats "that close" to the field. I wouldn't buy DCU season tix for a couple more years. It was positively insane. Anytime anyone positive happened for the US, half full bottles of water and Gatorade came raining down from the upper deck. We'd been pre-gaming with Outlaws for hours. I want to say it was a $10 all you can eat/drink proposition so by halftime, my buzz was starting to wear off, we'd been yelling non-stop for the whole first half combined with the noise level in the lower bowl my headache was large.
There were a couple of half-hearted confrontations after the game. Nothing real when closing distance became a thing.
I pitched Grant Wahl on that story, giving him a heads up if he agreed to keep sources confidential. I am that bespectacled 35 year old in the story. (I'm 57 now.) It had to be done. The games in Central America were out of control with people cutting the AC and blasting sound systems at our team all night. No regrets at all. The respect came on and off the pitch and we played a small part in the off the pitch piece.