26 days after September 11th, the US was scheduled to play a World Cup Qualifier against Jamaica in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Whether or not it was actually going to be played was in doubt but eventually the game was allowed to proceed under strict security. My cousin and I had already purchased tickets and were relieved to have an excuse to leave New York for the weekend and temporarily escape the madness. The plan was for me to meet him at his place in the Bronx and we would drive up together the day before the match and stay with my folks for the weekend.
The morning of our departure I got on the subway and crossed the Manhattan Bridge, the place where I first saw the towers burning. In those early days I was still adjusting to the altered Lower Manhattan skyline and just stared out the subway window hoping my eyes were deceiving me and that everything would go back to the way it was. I then passed through the damaged Cortland St. station, propped up by massive beams of timber to prevent it from completely collapsing. You could smell the fires that were still burning at Ground Zero. Eventually I made it up to the Bronx and when we got on the freeway heading north, out of the city, I let out an audible sigh. This was my first moment of relaxation in 25 days.
October 7, 2001 is also the day the US declared war on Afghanistan. My parents heard the news first and tried to shield us from it. They knew how important it was for us to take our mind off of things, even if it was just for a few hours. Their efforts were in vain as we heard the news on the radio on our way to the stadium and rode the rest of the way in silence. Security was nuts once we got there and we had to wait in line for close to an hour. We could hear the crowd celebrating Joe Max Moore’s opener and lamenting Jamaica’s equalizer. Eventually we made our way inside and put the news of the day behind us. The US had 70 minutes to qualify for the World Cup and that was all that mattered to us at that moment. It was a wonderful distraction and when Joe Max Moore converted his PK in the 80th minute I cracked what felt like my first smile in 26 days. When the final whistle blew the players celebrated their victory and subsequent qualification for the World Cup as the fans streamed out of stadium as quickly as possible. My cousin and I stayed for a while, not wanting the moment to end. It wasn’t just that the US had won, it was that the game itself took place at all. It was that we got to experience 70 minutes of normalcy. For us that was a huge and much needed victory.
