Non-soccer fans may not realize that the popular fan chant/song version of the White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army started as a soccer “thing”. For my part, I didn’t realize it was popular anywhere else, let alone American college football, until I read this story from Deadspin, How The Song “Seven Nation Army” Conquered The Sports World.
The march toward musical empire began on Oct. 22, 2003, in a bar in Milan, Italy, 4,300 miles away from Detroit. Fans of Club Brugge K.V., in town for their team’s group-stage UEFA Champions League clash against European giant A.C. Milan, gathered to knock back some pre-match beers. Over a stereo blared seven notes: Da…da-DA-da da DAAH DAAH, the signature riff of a minor American hit song.
Then, on Feb. 15, 2006, Club Brugge hosted A.S. Roma in a UEFA Cup match. The visitors won, 2-1, and the Roma supporters apparently picked up the song from their hosts.
“I had never heard the song before we stepped on the field in Bruges,” Roma captain Francesco Totti told a Dutch newspaper later. “Since then, I can’t get the ‘Po po po po po poo pooo’ out of my head. It sounded fantastic and the crowd was immediately totally into it. I quickly went out and bought one of the band’s albums.
The rest, as they say, is history. Check out the whole Deadspin article to see how it spread from those humble beginnings to take over the sports world. You can watch the Seven Nation Army video if you’re not familiar with the original, or if you just want to rock out again.
(Just two days left in group-stage voting for this month’s tournament, and the 2nd place spot is still very close — vote yet?)
Today’s the final day of the Europa League group stage. One of the matches we’ll see today, kicking off at 1:00 PM ET, is Denmark’s FC Copenhagen vs Belgium’s Standard Liège from Group B:
These are two very fine crests. Copenhagen’s lion silhouette is great: regal, powerful, yet modern. And the red stripes formed by the Danish flag stretched around the edge are a masterful touch. On the other hand, I like Standard Liège’s badge a lot, too. The boughs on either side and the crown on top are elegant and not overpowering. The old-fashioned style of the “S” and “L” are interesting, and the slice of off-center red gives the whole thing a nice richness. I like both of these two, and I can’t pick a favorite between them, so I think this match will be a draw (and not 0-0, either).
Note that today’s the final day to order a shirt and receive it by Christmas via regular shipping. It’s also the last day that the August winner, Netherland’s Vitesse will be available for order.
Update: Standard Liège get the 1-0 win, and I get 0 points on the prediction scorecard.
The group stage of the UEFA Champions League continues today, with groups E, F, G, and H all playing. The randomly selected match I’ll predict from today’s games is Belgium’s Genk vs. Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen.
This is a tough one. On one hand is the classic-style crest of Bayer Leverkusen, with lions rampant, scrolled type, and the founding year. Having a giant Bayer aspirin right in the middle makes it not only awesome, but helps put corporate sponsorship of sport in the 100+ year context it deserves.
On the other hand, Genk has a very plain logo, vaguely hurricane-symbol-y, but mostly just looking like some run of the mill company logo. But just as you’re about to forget this forgettable crest, you see the little tagline at the bottom: “We’re magic”. Wow. That’s fantastic. (See also: the Bolivian entrant in this month’s FC Shirts tournament, The Strongest.)
So it boils down to magic vs. pharmaceuticals (a fine line sometimes). I think this one must end in a draw, with each side picking up a single goal. Kickoff is today at 2:45 ET; scorecard to be updated later.
Yanks Abroad: Preview: Weekend Belgian Action:
Sacha Kljestan will travel to Brugge on Sunday afternoon in Jupiler Pro League action . . . Coming off a 3 – 0 victory in Europa League action against Strum Graz, Anderlecht will make the trip west to Brugge to take on the league’s surprise package of the season, Cercle Brugge.
American midfiedler Kljestan went the full 90 minutes on Thursday night in Brussels and will be expected to do the same in the Flemish city.
MLS’ FC Dallas today signed Colombian midfielder Daniel Cruz:
Cruz spent the majority of his professional career with Germinal Beerschot in the Belgian Pro League where he captained his side to a 2005 Belgian Cup title. The 30-year-old midfielder made more than 150 appearances in league play for Germinal Beerschot, tallying 12 goals.
This Beerschot club he’s coming from has been going through some serious name/branding/crest turmoil. I’m not sure I follow the whole saga (you can get more details from DesignFootball.com), but here are the old and new crests of Beerschott AC.
Old vs. new crests aside, I’m an FC Dallas fan, so here’s wishing good luck to Mr. Cruz in his new hoops, and welcome to the record-setting Texas heat.
Soccer By Ives has the story of MLS’ newest designated player: Whitecaps make Jarju first African DP
Jarju, who is also known as Toubabo, most recently played for RAEC Mons, which was just promoted to the top flight in Belgium. He scored 25 goals and had 13 assists in all competitions for Mons in Belgium’s second division last season and will look to combine with fellow DP Eric Hassli to spearhead an attack that has scored the third-fewest goals in MLS this season.
