EAST RUTHEFORD, N.J. -- For a few fleeting moments every now and then, it almost seemed like you were actually there; actually in the San Siro or Stadio Delle Alpi, at a game between Milan and Juventus, the two giants of Italian soccer. Juventus won the game on penalty kicks, 2-1.
The crowd was passionate and for the most part, spoke Italian. Gianluigi Buffon, Pavel Nedved, Paolo Maldini and all of the stars that make Serie A, the top league in Italy, so famous, were there. Even the famous Italian referee, Pierlugi Collina, graced the pitch.
But something was just a little off.
I think it was either the ads the scoreboard ran for Jets and Giants tickets or the fact that I could see the Manhattan skyline from a window on one side of the press box.
Either way, I knew I was still in America. And I knew this match wasn't going to be as good as it could have been.
Sunday wrapped up the 2003 Champions World Tour, which brought some of the world's best soccer teams to the United States for two weeks. The most famous to make the trip was the great Manchester United, who was outstanding in the four games it played.
As far as skill, fame and mass appeal go, it would be hard to do better than the seven teams that came to the United States.
If this tour, coupled with America's success last summer in Korea at the World Cup, couldn't bring soccer's appeal to the masses in this country than nothing could.
Guess what? Nothing can.
For as hard as it may be for soccer lovers -- such as myself -- to comprehend, the sport simply will never grow to compete with basketball, football and baseball over here.
For soccer, and this country's professional version, the MLS, to grow to the point where meaningless regular season games are on network TV and sports talk radio takes soccer calls on a consistent basis, three things have to happen. The NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball all have to fold and those three sports have to be erased from the American conscience.
I, for one, would hate to see that, because as much as I love to follow soccer, I like to watch the World Series or an NFL playoff game just as much, if not more.
The fact that soccer will never take off to the point that it competes with the big three sports in the United States should not be lamented or cause sorrow in the hearts of the American soccer fan.
First of all, it would do nothing to impede the progress of the national team. More kids would play soccer and the talent pool would grow.
Second, the American soccer fan would always have its greatest friend, cable TV, on its side. I can get by watching the Champions League on espn2 and various European leagues on Fox Sports World.
And, finally, when there is the urge to watch the highest levels of the game in person, there would always be enough interest to bring the game's giants across the Atlantic to give American fans what they want. Next summer, Real Madrid and one David Beckham will land on these shores.
Which brings me back to Sunday at the Meadowlands. For all of the times I have seen Juventus and AC Milan play on television, it is something totally different to see them live.
At stake was the Italian SuperCup, a trophy both sides wanted, but not the biggest target on either's radar. But they still played hard for themselves and for the 54,000 that showed up to watch.
When my favorite player, the tireless, never-say-die Nedved, sent in the cross that David Trezegeut tapped in to tie the game as time expired, it didn't matter that soccer will always be fourth or fifth best in this country.
It's doing pretty well without us.
