What does one do when presented with not one — but two — once-in-a-lifetime opportunities in the same week? You take advantage of them both, of course!
For a football fan like Declan, Atlanta hosting World Cup games is like having your favorite singer perform in your living room. Once we determined a match would be held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (take that, FIFA!) on his 22nd birthday, it was a no-brainer that we would attend.
Yes, the ticket price for the three of us (me, Declan and his girlfriend) was more than we wanted to pay, but what part of once-in-a-lifetime don’t you understand? Marilynn’s not the football fanatic Declan and I are, so she stayed at home.
Declan found tickets in the lower bowl for Uzbekistan vs DR Congo that weren’t bad price-wise. Looking closer to the match, I saw single tickets going for nearly the price I’d paid for three of them, so Declan, indeed, found a deal.
We hit MARTA almost three hours before the match, anxious to take in the FanFest for ticketholders. However, the excessive heat caused us to quickly change plans, entering the stadium much earlier than we’d planned. The concourses thronged with people, many of them apparently there for fear of missing out on the spectacle. I saw lots of people taking selfies in the middle of the concourse, taking pictures of other people taking pictures and generally being there for the sake of being there.
Fortunately, the folks around us were ardent fans on both sides. There was a guy dressed like an Uzbekistan cleric a row behind us, and the man sitting next to us was a loud and proud Congo fan. A special shout-out to the Uzbekistan fans behind us who bought Declan a drink to celebrate his birthday.
While we were definitely neutrals in this match between the bottom two teams in the group, the chance to advance to the knockout round was on the line, and both teams were lively, with Uzbekistan scoring early on a looping shot that the goalkeeper could only watch nestle into the top right corner of the goal. Congo later put the ball into the net, but it was disallowed on what I think is a questionable VAR call (I just watched the highlights). But Congo came roaring back, equalizing on a penalty before going ahead in the 78th minute and adding another in second-half stoppage time.
Declan called it one of the best days of his life, being a small part of the larger world as it stopped by for a visit.
‘We’re Playing for England … En–ger-land!’
Sometime during the match, I discovered that England — Declan’s favorite national team — would play the winner of this match four days later at the Benz. After asking Marilynn for permission to spend way more money than is wise, we bought two tickets for that match, a further father/son bonding experience.
Declan is quite the fan. Three summers ago, he and I flew from Belfast to Manchester to watch England stomp North Macedonia in a Euro 2024 qualifying match. We were there for less than 24 hours before joining Marilynn in Germany. Four Arsenal players are on the England team, including Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka, his favorite player (we have a cat named Bukayo).
The day before the England match, my good friend Kevin wrote to ask if it was a crazy idea to attend the match on Wednesday. “We already have tickets,” was my reply, so he bought a ticket close by and was able to sit next to us during the match.
Watching the World Cup as a neutral is a much different experience than having fanatic skin in the game, especially when England goes down a goal in the 7th minute.
Both sides had good chances, and the Congo goalkeeper was particularly spry, making several great saves to keep the Three Lions out. Late in the first half, there was a potential penalty when the goalkeeper appeared to trip up England Captain Harry Kane in the 18-yard box, but the ref waved it away and VAR declined to intervene. However, people in the stands booed loudly, and pundits on TV agreed with us. Alas, that’s how the football bounced.
England got its revenge in the 75th minute when Kane scored to tie the match at 1-1. He also scored the winning goal 10 minutes later to put the Three Lions on top for good.
Declan brought his England flag and waved it proudly all through the match, and I think Kevin enjoyed the game, too.
And while I’m happy that England won, I’m ecstatic that I was able to share this experience with my son and a good friend.
To Europe ... and Back 