Sports

Soccer Fans Gear Up For Exciting Month

Next Stop, The World!

By Bill Alden

Photographs by Benoit Cortet

Doniger Gallery occupies the north end of Roberts Stadium, the state-of-the-art soccer facility at Princeton University that opened in 2008. The walls of that plaza are plastered with images of some of the unforgettable moments and great teams in Princeton soccer history. On one side is a photo of players on the 2004 women’s squad hugging on the night they made the NCAA Final Four. To the right, is a shot of the 1993 men’s team, beaming during their run to the national semis.

The coach of that 1993 squad, Bob Bradley, made a pilgrimage to Roberts Stadium in the third week of May to preside over a training camp for the U.S. men’s national soccer team as it geared up for the upcoming World Cup in South Africa. After holding a press conference in the plaza on the opening day of the seven-day camp, the square-jawed, typically taciturn U.S. head coach broke into a wide grin when he pointed out his picture on the wall.

Over the next week, Bradley smiled a lot as he greeted old friends and colleagues after the daily training sessions. “It’s really exciting, there are so many people here who helped along the way, friends and family, so getting to be back here to prepare for the World Cup is extra special,” says Bradley, a 1980 Princeton alum. “It’s a great field, it has a great look to it; the architecture of the stadium and the way it fits into campus. To know how many people were involved in that project, to be able to have our camp for the World Cup here means an awful lot.”

It meant an awful lot to local soccer aficionados to have the U.S. national players training in their midst. Invited guests got to sit in the stands for the morning practices while the less fortunate stood outside the fence peering in. All eyes were focused on the action as star midfielder Landon Donovan honed his free kicks in one corner of the pitch while goalie Tim Howard was skying high in a net across the field. The spirited daily scrimmages were greeted by hushed rapture from the fans, who applauded later when the players completed their fiendish timed conditioning runs at the end of each session. Afterward, a gaggle of reporters and camera crews met with the players to chronicle the day’s events.

For the full text of this story, please subscribe to Princeton Magazine.