Game #105- Atlanta United FC

Atlanta United FC vs DC United

July 21, 2019

Mercedes Benz Stadium

This weekend I flew out early to Atlanta to hit up two games before heading to Raleigh for work.  Last night I rolled in during a big thunderstorm, but luckily the clouds parted before the Atlanta Braves game started vs the Washington Nationals.  This morning I had a busy day ahead of me.  I started with a quick workout, at same breakfast, then headed to Six Flags Over Georgia for a few hours before going back to the hotel for a quick shower.  Once I was cleaned up, I packed my stuff and headed over to the stadium (after the game I had a few hours to kill before going to the airport so I got in a second workout and dip in the pool, yes it was a really long day).  On the way over to the Mercedes Benz stadium I stopped off at Centennial Park to check out the 1996 Olympic Rings and the stage for the medal ceremonies.  It’s a cool park where they have concerts, and a big fountain for days like today when it is 90 degrees with 90% humidity.  The kids were frolicking in the water with their parents while others were simply laying on the grass.  

I got to the stadium about an hour before kick off which gave me time to time some pics outside of the arena.  This place is huge, I would guess the Falcons pack about 80k fans in there and the soccer team gets about 50k.  Before heading in I took a picture with the huge Falcon statue which was draped with the AUFC scarf as well as the big metal soccer ball, but all I could think about was the AC pumping in the stadium.  The whoosh of air was so nice I was actually chilly at one point.  Inside of the stadium there weren’t any good fan features, but the design was really cool.  Very big, open walkways.  Plenty of food, bars, beer stations, and some areas for the kids including a zip line, run for time area, and a virtual driving experience.  The huge Budweiser statue made out of hundreds of kegs was entertaining and the wall of high school football helmets is a nice touch.  I ventured around the stadium for about 30 minutes taking pictures of all the angles.  Like I said the place is huge, but there really isn’t a bad seat in the house. The coolest part of the place is the jumbo tron.  It’s not like the normal ones at the ends of the field, or even the huge ones that are hanging from the ceiling.  The Atlanta screen is a huge circular (essentially never ending) loop above everyone’s heads.  So everyone has a good view of replays, stats, pictures, but the problem is that you often find yourself looking at that vs the field because of the size and clarity.  As I was walking around I found one other cool thing, a designated driver sign up where if you pledge not to drink you get a cup for all the soda/water/juice you can drink.  There are fountains everywhere and you just fill up as you go.  In fact if you get any drink in the stadium it works that way…except mine was free.

As for the game, it was fairly unexciting the first 85 minutes.  There weren’t a lot of shots on goal, and the ones that were on net were pedestrian.  I will say that Brad Guzan from Atlanta United made one really good save in the first have with a diving save in a break away attempt by Paul Arriola in the 32^nd minute.  But the fire works started in the second half when AU get a penalty kick and star Pity Martinez stepped up for the sure goal at the 80^th minute.  But he tried to get way too cute and in the run up to the ball did this weird hop to try to pull the goalie offline but in fact messed up his rhythm and kicking it way over the crossbar. The fans in the stadium were ready to go nuts but everyone just let out an audible sigh followed by a ton of “What the F!”.  Luckily for the home team they had the momentum and in the 88^th minute Gonzalo Martinez took a great pass and forcefully headed in the ball for a 1-0 lead.  In the 92^nd minute Pity made up for his horrible PK and got the second and final goal in a breakaway to put them ahead 2-0 and sealed the win with that same final score.

Overall it was a great experience.  I sat next to two guys who were really cool, one is a big Manchester United fan so we chatted a bit about the Arsenal and EPL.  One of the main reasons he came to the game was to see his idol Wayne Rooney play for DC United but he was scratched for the game because of an injury.  I think that would have drastically changed the game since he is one of the leading scorers in the league with 11 goals, but we didn’t even see him in the warm ups.  Oh well.  Still a great time.