| Victoria Jackson
Intrigued by the expanded, revamped men’s FIFA Club World Cup taking place this summer in the U.S. and one year out from the North America-hosted men’s World Cup next summer, I made a last-minute decision during a business trip to Washington, D.C. to check out the action at Audi Field, where (David) Al Ain FC of Abu Dhabi were taking on (Goliath) Juventus of Italy. Not being one of the tournament’s marquee match-ups, tickets were readily available the day prior at reasonable prices.
After an early evening downpour, I made my way in traffic – game-day congestion compounded by the rain-delayed Washington Nationals getting ready to start nearby – to impressively vertical Audi Field. The bleachers were drenched but the pitch looked to be in excellent shape, if not a bit spongier than usual.
Most of the crowd was there to support the automaker-bankrolled giant club from Turin, and fans got to cheer on their club as they scored, with ease, four goals in the first half. Al Ain, one of the few football clubs you’ll see wearing purple as their primary color, came out on the attack in the opening minutes of the second half and looked much more comfortable in control of the ball than having to defend (something they probably don’t have much experience doing in their home domestic league), but the final score ended up a shut-out, 5-0 Juventus.
FIFA (and Audi Field) put on a good show in this group stage match. A Juve song played after each Juventus goal, and the Club World Cup branding looked sharp. The Eurovision-esque music video that played on the big screen during the halftime break was wonderfully kitschy. The “racism ends now” field banners were weaved into the rotation of tournament sponsors. The fans were great, especially the kids. I wish that there had been some Al Ain merch alongside all the Juventus swag for sale in the pop-up shop – I would have loved to buy an Al Ain flag to put up in my office. Not clear whether the organizers were making practical decisions based on expected fan attendance or whether it was Al Ain that failed to provide their swag for the occasion.
For the Juventus players, among them U.S. stars Weston McKennie and Timothy Weah, the game capped off an eventful day in which they also – like so many American kids on a school trip to their nation’s capital – visited the White House. But unlike most White House visitors shepherded through a few of the presidential residence’s public rooms, the Juventus squad found themselves providing an uncomfortable backdrop to President Trump while he fielded questions from journalists while seated at his Oval Office desk, on such timely matters as war in the Middle East and a Supreme Court decision on transgender rights.
Frequent White House visitor and Trump travel companion FIFA President Gianni Infantino was there, too, eager to raise his tournament’s visibility and the administration’s awareness of it. But it was an odd pre-match activity for these players, who must have been relieved to be back in their element on the soggy grass that night under a different type of spotlight.