COLUMBUS, Ohio – The first real moment of release came Thursday night, in a throbbing, indoor-outdoor bar packed shoulder-to-shoulder with revelers decked out in red, white, and blue. It was time for the American Outlaws’ (in)famous “night before” party at Columbus’ Fourth Street Bar and Grill, a cross between a pep rally and a family reunion meant to get everyone hyped for Friday's US vs. Mexico World Cup qualifying match.
As the night wore on, the crowd swelled as a DJ spun nearly every song with “USA” in the title, until, finally, the affair's special guests arrived – USMNT legend Alexi Lalas, and fellow FOX commentator Rob Stone. Hurried up to the party on the back of a pickup truck, they narrowly escaped a throng reaching Beatlemania-like levels of hysteria. But the pair managed to break through the crowd, climb a staircase, and addressed the fans from quite literally on high.
Despite everything that had roiled the country over the preceding week, Lalas hinted, the match the next day would be a chance for all to show ourselves at our best. “Tomorrow is about celebrating what we’ve built," he declared, "the beautiful game!”
“Tomorrow, there aren't any red states or blue states,” added Stone. "There's only red, white, and blue!" To deafening whoops, a giant flag unfurled, everyone toasted with free, strangely grape-flavored shots in plastic cups, and the stress seal surrounding the game was broken.
A message like "we’re all red, white, and blue” might sound trite, but as we all know, Friday’s match came at, shall we say, an awkward time for the country. Going into gameday, hand-wringing and speculation abounded about what may or may not happen among or between fans. But starting with Thursday night, everyone pretty much put their best foot forward.
Well, okay, Friday's US loss on the pitch – an embarrassing, stressful first in many respects – still stings. There were some silver linings there, though – Christian Pulisic’s continuing flickers of excellence, Bobby Wood’s fast-rising star. But where we can really take comfort in this match is, yes, how it brought people together in symbolic displays of unity that now mean more than ever. What some worried could go really, really wrong instead went pretty right.
In the stands and at the various tailgates beforehand, inclusion prevailed, both through the spread of faces represented and through outright messages. As the hours before the match waned and the crowd at AO’s tailgate got a little more beer-sodden, one fan’s costume especially hit a positive-feelings-nerve:
More than a couple El Tri fans in full Mexico gear came by, and while some friendly razzing ensued between the fan groups, that’s where it stopped. Instead of vitriol, we got smiling group photos, and peaceful games of soccer tennis.
The same messages of unity continued into the stadium, where, in one supporters’ end, US Soccer welcomed USMNT fans in two languages. Banners bore the team’s slogan “one nation, one team” – and right next to it, in Spanish, “una nación, un equipo.”
The Mexican national anthem, meanwhile, drew a standing ovation. And when it was time for the traditional pre-match squad photos, both sides, longtime rivals off the pitch, spontaneously came together for this goosebumps-inducing image.
What ensued in the following 100 or so minutes was at times scrappy, aggressive, and plenty tense – but the drama and suspense proved enough to push out most thoughts of politics and societal strife. That, combined with the respectful, open, and empathetic atmosphere throughout represented so much of what we love about the beautiful game.
It’s on us now to carry these feelings forward.
