Champions League in Baltimore?

UEFA Champions League in Baltimore?

For all intensive purposes the friendly between Italian Serie A giants AC Milan and the EPL’s Chelsea at M&T Bank stadium in Baltimore, MD was as close to Champions League football we have ever been.

Although the competition is called the World Football Challenge, the match definitely had a European cup feel to it.

For the first 11 minutes we watched, what could be, the world’s finest collection of footballers in Chelsea batter the Kaka-less Milan side.

Despite the one-sided start the first half started with a buzz in the crowd.

You can call this match a friendly but when you put world class footballers on the pitch in front of over 70,000 fans they are going to compete.

And the fans enthusiasm was rewarded by a wonder strike from Chelsea’s Didier Drogba to the upper left corner catching AC Milan’s keeper Zeljko Kalac by surprise.

Clarence Seadorf of AC Milan leveled in the second half but Chelsea’s Yuri Zhirkov put the London club ahead to win the match.

Chelsea looked impressive at times during the game and disjointed for short periods but should feel confident with the result. They may be the world’s finest collection of footballers but they may also be the world’s most disappointing.

Milan, on the other hand, looked in desperate need of more games under their belt and probably should expect Ronaldinho to gain his form sometime mid season, if at all.

But it was the wholly American feel to the match that caught me by surprise, from the location of the game to the effort on the field.

I got a real sense that neither the fans nor the players were there to be disappointed and the event that evening was anything but.

American defender Oguchi Onyewu got his second start for the Rosaneri late in the second half and was probably the most nervous player on the pitch.

The central defender looked slow to react at times but also showed composure and confidence on the ball, his performances in the preseason may determine how much playing time he gets during his first season with Milan.

What most surprised me were the allegiances in the crowd. Many fans were sporting the new Chelsea strip despite the team wearing what looked to be the negative exposure of the Bayern Munich home kit on the field.

And Milan was not without their supporters, many of the Rosaneri faithful were in black and red face paint waving Italian flags in support of their team.

The entire atmosphere provided by the crowd was matched by the effort of the players on the field and although it was preseason, like I said before, they were there to compete.

The World Football Challenge is not the UEFA Champions League, but it is the closest we may ever get to watching two giant clubs compete with meaning on American soil.

But after gazing at the stars one must look at the ground before taking a few steps.

So what are the steps that have been made in attracting world class football to the US?

The American public obviously knows the difference between Chelsea playing Milan and the Houston Dynamo playing Saprisa for the CONCACF Champions League.

And it would appear as though they prefer the real thing, but what is the real thing? Does the real thing only belong in Europe?

At first glance we don’t look like a third world country, but when these giants of world football come to our cities our fans are no different than those fans in other developing countries.

Except in America, we have a choice; we have a choice to support our own league and what it means to be a footballer. We have a choice, to not accept mediocre football and we exercise that choice every time these clubs come to America.

 Yes, it’s great to see that there are other football fans in the US who love the game as much as I do, but it doesn’t help our league or our youth to be satisfied with supporting other countries teams.

The CONCACF Champions League is a legitimate tournament, the MLS and the WPS are legitimate leagues, and I know you know the difference in quality of play America but don’t be afraid to support your own products. If you need any help just ask Seattle how to do it.

I am really happy to see so much interest in my sport grow by leaps and bounds every year, but it troubles me that interest in our own game is so hard to come by.

70,000 fans to see a friendly between AC Milan and Chelsea is a good thing, but 70,000 fans to see an MLS final or CONCACF Champions League final would be even better.