Sorry, haters: MetLife Stadium has aced its moment on the World Cup stage | Politi

The World Cup will bring out the civic pride in even the most cynical among us. Still, it is with some real surprise that I find myself rolling up my sleeves and rushing to defend … MetLife Stadium?

To be clear, yes, I am referring to that MetLife Stadium — the one that I once labeled “MehLife” in a column in which a reader likened it to a giant prison toilet. This might seem like a significant change in position, but really, the World Cup simply has provided an important reminder of what really matters at a sporting event.

Hint: It ain’t the venue.

That hasn’t stopped the people of the world from (once again) complaining about the 16-year-old building the folks at FIFA have renamed New York New Jersey Stadium. One British journalist called it a “roofless, mall-neighbouring, soulless concrete bowl.” One fan said it was “old and cramped” before adding that “the people are grumpy.”

Ouch. Accurate, sure. But ouch.

“America has some wonderful, breathtaking sports stadiums,” Oliver Holt, chief sports writer for The Daily Mail, wrote on X. “This isn’t one of them.”

If this is a thing now, just wait until MetLife is the final venue remaining. The Dallas Morning News went as far to write an entire story about this under this headline: “As MetLife Stadium draws criticism, fans wonder why Dallas wasn’t chosen for World Cup final.”

To borrow an old meme from the kids …

No one:

Absolutely no one:

Dallas newspaper: This would be so much better if we were all in Arlington, Texas!

Even Tammy Murphy couldn’t let that one go. “Have you ever been to Dallas?” the state’s former first lady and chairwoman of the NY/NJ World Cup committee said over the phone this week when I mentioned the criticism coming from Texas.

“We are the center of the entire world here,” Murphy said, ticking off the long list of reasons that FIFA officials took into consideration when they chose the state to host its marquee event. “It was never a question for me as to where this should happen and why.”

Murphy argued that the criticism of MetLife Stadium when compared to the glistening sports palaces in Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta and other U.S. cities has been “proven completely incorrect.” On this point, I’d respectfully disagree with the former first lady. Those stadiums are undeniably better.

But through six World Cup games in New Jersey, it is abundantly clear that the fans do not care.

If anything, MetLife has never been this electric outside of a few Taylor Swift concerts. The fans are in their seats early and stay to the end. They sing, dance, and are totally engaged from start to finish, a stark contrast to the atmosphere in the building on the average Sunday afternoon during the fall.

Random thought: Maybe someone should try banging a drum at Jets games.

Even the atmosphere outside MetLife in the World Cup fan zone has been a blast. Like most East Rutherford regulars, I thought FIFA’s ban on tailgating would kill the vibe, but in contrast, the decision has brought thousands of fans together in the same area to mingle, take photos and enjoy a moment that, for many, is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

FIFA expanded the security perimeter well beyond the stadium gates to create that atmosphere — and, of course, force the fans to drink only FIFA-sanctioned beverages and spend time in massive displays dedicated to FIFA corporate partners like Home Depot and Door Dash. Could the Giants or Jets use some element of this for their games?

“I think people would be curious about it but then would attack it like everything else,” said Rich Kijak, a former Giants season ticket holder from Point Pleasant. He asked his son how much the Michelob Ultra he was holding cost, and when told it was $17, he changed his opinion. “Yeah, they’d burn the stadium down.”

French fans didn’t travel here from Paris with a hibachi and a cooler, so they didn’t seem to miss the tailgating as they hung out with like-minded soccer nuts. In the hours before Kylian Mbappe led Les Bleus to a convincing knockout-round victory over Sweden, it was common to find groups of fans from multiple countries dancing together in a joyous circle. Again, not something you’d see at Jets-Titans.

“Dude, I love soccer,” a Fort Lee fan named Sujit Luke said after he stepped out of one impromptu dance. “Everybody from all around the world is here for a celebration — that’s what this is about.”

Once inside, no one cared that MetLife Stadium was a “roofless, mall-neighbouring, soulless concrete bowl.” It was simply a building that seats 80,663 paying customers who were thrilled to attend one of the world’s premier sporting events, and one that happens to be a few miles from the greatest city in the world.

Fans were talking about Mbappe and the dominant French team, not MetLife’s weird facade that looks like a cheese grater. They were buzzing about a dominant French performance, not commenting on the cement ramps leading them to the massive parking lot.

The stadium faded to the background as the World Cup took center stage. Which, of course, is exactly what happens at all great sporting events. Even the ones in Dallas.

Read the original article on NJ.com. Add NJ.com as a Preferred Source by clicking here.