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After the jump, an American girl and her English bloke relive last night’s episode…

By Doro Globus and Gavin Bishop

What better way to watch an England v. USA match than with a English bloke and an American girl? Walking along Wembley way, Gavin grinned with excitement as he embarked upon his first visit to the national stadium since its massive renovation. Meanwhile, I spent my time trying to spot Americans correctly after living in London for three years. After downing our beers and chuckling as many Americans were delivered the news that not only could they not bring beer into the stadium they could not have another one until half time. We found our seats, Gavin reminding me not to speak to the usher as visiting fans were supposed to sit elsewhere.

The pre-match ceremony was marked by an especially powerful image, as enormous English and the American flags were unfurled and carried around the pitch by UK soldiers. A poignant and surprising visual for both of us, we could not help but think about our joint and controversial involvement in Iraq. We moved onto lighter conversations as we mused over each other’s national anthem. During the Star-Spangled Banner Gavin jokingly remarked, “I didn’t know the word brave had so many syllables.” And I wondered what happens to the UK national anthem, “God Saves the Queen” when the Queen dies. “They change it to God save the King” Gavin kindly explained. Duh, I should have guessed.

The visitor’s section was full of American fans, flags, and expats. Uncle Sam even came to cheer on the boys. Sitting in a section that overlooked those decked out in stars and stripes, I was duly entertained by the feeble yet genuine attempts to cheer loud enough to be heard in the massive Wembley stadium. All in all, however, the crowd was very tame and with hardly anyone booing the national anthem. With the US having scored nine goals and only conceding two in their last three games against top level opponents Mexico, Sweden, and Poland, both clubs were hoping for an action-packed football/soccer match.With England not having qualified for this summer’s European Championships and with the new coach Fabio Capello experimenting with both the English language and the England players, the match didn’t sell out and it was easy to get tickets the day before. All in all the England fans are a bit disillusioned and a loss to the US would have been traumatic. There were some English fans who wondered whether the match was more geared to the Americans and TV contracts as normally this time in the season they would be playing a more higher-profile team.

Case in point as Beckham played in his first England match since earning 100 caps. He received an award, a standing ovation, and cheers from both sides of the Atlantic. There were doubts about whether he would play that day due to the emergence of the aptly named David Bentley who has been playing in his spot. With a strong start of the MLS season peaking with a goal from 70 yards last weekend, Beckham donned his boots and, of course, he was responsible for the first goal.In terms of the actual game rather than the inter-dynamics of football and soccer fans, the entire match was start and stop. The Greek referee really had the whistle going. At one point an England fan yelled out “Hey ref, this isn’t basketball!” A sentiment that pretty much summed up the game. The Americans spent most of the time on defense and disappointingly never seemed to try that hard. Some life finally came out of the US side just after halftime as Fulham’s American striker Eddie Johnson volleyed just wide of the post that would have drawn the US level with England at 1-1. However team USA soon returned to the dull form that had dominated the match. This came as a surprise as to England who had expected the American players to be fresher as it is the start of the MLS season. Full of substitutions, the second half passed with a second goal from England and it became pretty clear that the American eagle had not really landed.As we walked out of the stadium, disappointed by the match but enthused by the occasion, we marked the evening with an half-England half-USA scarf and both kind of fell in love with the lights of the Wembley arch.

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photos and story courtesy of Doro and Gavin