Some are plays, some are players, but all are tied to a moment when the Beautiful Game had its Philly moment.
The first time Lincoln Financial Field opened its gates it was with a soccer match between world powers Manchester United and Barcelona in 2003.This week’s Top 10 is for the soccer fans scattered across the Greater Philadelphia Region. It’s an Inquirer roundup of “Do you remember when…” moments that happened here in Philadelphia.
Some should be easy to remember as they happened not too long ago, while some go back decades but are immortalized by the impact of the moment and the reverb long after the final whistle. Some are plays, some are players, but all are tied to a moment of when the Beautiful Game had its Philly moment.
It’s the home of the Birds without a doubt, but Lincoln Financial Field displayed the original brand of football when it opened its gates to the public for the first time ever in 2003 when these two world titans duked it out in South Philly. The Linc held court to some of the best players in the world at the time and of note, U.S. men’s national team goalkeeper Tim Howard was in goal for Manchester United.
What makes this one even cooler is that this Real Madrid team was perhaps one of the better rosters it’s had since 2010. World Stars like Brazil’s Kaka and Marcelo played in addition to a prime Cristiano Ronaldo. After being down 2-0, Farfan had fans at the Linc going crazy after he lofted a ball over the head of Real Madrid’s goalkeeper Iker Casillas and scored. Real Madrid still took the win in the exhibition, 2-1, but it was Farfan’s goal that was the talker.
There’s not an American fan out there who won’t give props for the contributions of Clint Dempsey on the soccer pitch for the U.S. men’s national team. He received his due in Philly to the tune of over 68,000 screaming fans at the Linc in 2010. Dempsey scored the game-winner against Turkey in the final game of U.S. Soccer’s Send-Off Series, a collection of exhibition matches ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.