Somehow I found myself immersed in soccer this last week. There is now a pick up game 4 times a week for me: Wednesday evening and Saturday morning at Summit Park Elementary, and Thursday and Sunday evening at Northwest Park. I am still playing in the indoor league on Fridays. I am hoping to get in good shape by the end of the summer at this rate. Though I haven't played the Saturday game yet, I find myself sleeping past 10 on Saturday lately.
In addition to that there was the Confederations Cup tournament where US surprised everyone and advanced to the final and almost defeated Brasil. I didn't watch it but I got swept up in the excitement. All of this reminded me about Baltimore's own professional soccer team - Crystal Palace USA. They play in the USL-2 league, the lowest level of US professional soccer. Their season is in full swing and I decided to attend a game on Monday evening.
The home games are held at UMBC stadium. Tickets are a little pricey at $16 but at least you can bring your own food and beverages. There wasn't a big turnout - I'd estimate no more than 200 people at the peak. The few fans for the opponents - Real Maryland from Rockville - were louder than the home crowd and had those annoying air horns. The game lacked excitement in the first half aside from a bunch of yellow cards. I really missed instant replay and commentators because I couldn't figure out what the cards were for most of the time. A lot of the fouls happened away from the ball. In the second half Real scored and Crystal Palace were pushed into action. They finally started putting shots on goal. An ejection of two Real players helped them create more chances and there were a couple of really close ones. At one point a header from 20 feet, in front of an open goal, bounced off the ground and went over. The game finished 1-0 and we left a little disappointed.
Arguably the biggest soccer event to hit Baltimore is coming July 24th when European giants Chelsea and AC Milan will face off in a friendly at M&T Bank Stadium. At first I wasn't going to go because I didn't think a no-stakes friendly game would be that exciting but the match could be an important part of pre-season preparation and where else will I see stars of such caliber? I still have a problem of who to support. I hate both clubs. Chelsea are the Yankees of the Premiership - buying up stars to win the championship. This is done with the ill-gotten gains of a Russian oligarch in exile. AC Milan has been demoted and fined for referee bribery and other violations and are owned by Berlusconi, the corrupt Italian prime minister and media magnate.