Guatemala vs Jamaica International Friendly

11/11/23

The atmosphere inside Red Bull Arena is electric, and the stands are packed with Guatemalan fans from all angles, just like when they played in the Gold Cup this summer, their fans took over the arena and they’re loud and proud. They make a Red Bull crowd look like a bunch of golfing fans at a match. Pre-match predictions for attendance were around 11,500-12,000, with under 30 minutes till kick off it looks like they’ve exceeded those numbers already. The crowd when it roars for the Guatemala team is deafening, nothing at a Red Bulls game comes close in comparison sadly. The Red Bulls need to find a way to attract these fans to their matches, they just need more Guatemalans to attend not more fans.

The Guatemalan crowd roars as the starting XI is announced and they cheer their nation on, as for Jamaica the building was silent. Number-wise it is not a sell-out, but they did draw better than the majority of the Red Bulls matches this year. The noise level beats the crowd for every Red Bull game in 2023 hands down not even close. The anthems have been played and it’s no secret who the fans are here to see tonight in Harrison, NJ. There is a true disconnect between fans and clubs in MLS as opposed to fans and country. These International matches hit on a different level, you feel the passion from pre-game till the final whistle and sometimes beyond in the parking lots for the after-party celebrations. Harrison is loud tonight for Guatemala will it continue to the Gotham FC match being watched on many televisions in the city starting in just under an hour from now at 8 pm est.?

You don’t need to speak the language to feel the passion in the crowd for their club, if more Americans watched these international matches, they too would fall in love with the beautiful game. The international version of passion for sport hits at a higher level than any American’s passion for a sporting team. In America, fans change teams like they change their clothes, whatever trends win, in the international world you’re born into a club, and you love that club without question good or bad you show up and scream in support. People wonder why MLS crowds are viewed as meh, if you saw the game at the world level it makes sense. To those outside America, the chants are copied and duplicated no one is original, no team has a real fight song that only their diehards would know, and by diehards, I mean the entire city, village, town, etc. What American fans feel is intimidating in the stands is a joke to most international players, as Jokic in the NBA said at a press conference “I’m from Serbia baby,” referring to how the entire arena is jumping up and down in unison for the entire game, pyro is used indoors and outdoors, chants are loud and filled with passion to intimidate the other side the Europeans and the rest of the world put everything into their clubs through thick and thin. Americans price out most fans for suits who don’t care about the club or honor.

Twenty minutes into the match we’ve seen nonstop action out of both sides, much more than you would see in a Major League Soccer match. The fouls are different, if the players in MLS had to play with the international game laws enforcement they would crumble and look for home. This is sad because the Americans used to be viewed as the tough guys, the bullies, the ones who brought the pain in the sporting world.

The first half saw a ton of action, but no goals have been scored, look for more back-and-forth action in the second half and hopefully a goal or two. To start the second half, we found out that Jamaica has a Tom Barlow-like player too, missing an open goal by 10 yards to the left.

It’s been an amazing match so far lots of action from both sides, still scoreless but it’s one of those great 0-0 games.

Post-game we asked the Jamaica Head Coach about Cory Burke’s standing with the team, he stated “We hope he recovers soon to join us; we look forward to having Cory back on the squad he is a solid player for us in Jamaica and we value him highly.”