I went to New York and Philadelphia to see the two biggest games of my life. Manchester United versus Juventus, and Manchester United versus Barcelona. For a soccer fan, these games on paper are huge, the three clubs being arguably the three biggest in the world. But to see them in person was magical, and for me, this was England away.

Manchester United 4 Juventus 1
Our group left Toronto on two busses filled with fans from all over southern Ontario and from as far away as Winnipeg and Halifax. The misery of the long drive was tempered by our excitement and by the free flowing beer. By the time we got to our hotel we were in good spirits, but we were straight to bed, as tomorrow was the big day.

Our hotel was in Newark, and it was a short drive to meet at the unofficial ManU pub in New York City. In the pub, it was pints and songs, every screen filled with soccer. I felt more at home in that crowd than I ever have in my 25 years here in Canada. Although Canada is my home, I do get homesick for the football camaraderie of England. Hockey, baseball, basketball and (American) football, have just never filled the gap for me. And the A-League is to soccer what a child's finger painting is to the Masters of art history. So in a pub, everyone in soccer jerseys, where the dark ale is flowing and the male chorus of soccer songs and chants is booming is where I belong. We spilled out onto the street to climb onto our busses - there were busses lined up for three city blocks. The sidewalks of each block was a sea of red and white jerseys - red for ManU, white for England. And we were off to Giant's stadium in East Rutherford.

Manchester may as well have been playing at home. We set a record attendance at Giants stadium of 79,405 and I'd argue that 70,000 were there for ManU. When Juve arrived on the pitch, they were greeted with 70,000 hearty boos. And when ManU arrived, we went nuts. The game was a classic. I won't give you a match report, but did I mention it was ManU 4, Juve 1?

New York City
We spent two full days in Manhattan. New York city is something else. I've never seen anything like it in my life. The people of New York are slim and healthy-looking. The women are beautiful and stylish and the men - well, I didn't actually notice any men. The buildings are glorious and there are hundreds of them. I've never seen so many colonnades, entablatures, pediments, porticos, coffered ceilings and statues adorning so many structures. The architecture of Manhattan is mind blowing. We have nothing in Canada to remotely compare to New York. As far as cosmopolitan cities go, it makes Toronto look like a pipsqueak. In fact, calling Toronto the Mega City is an absolute joke. There's no use describing it in this article, but I can only say, if you ever have even a sniff of an opportunity to visit New York, grab it by the balls.

Manchester 3 Barcelona 1
Philadelphia is a relatively short trip from New York. We were pretty tired by this point and the weather had become much warmer and muggier. Our hotel was in a suburb on the outskirts of the city, and was noticeably shabbier than the one we had in Newark. We did our best to sneak in a few pints and then it was off to the stadium. Philadelphia's major stadiums are all collected on the same plot of land. We were in Lincoln Financial Field, the brand new stadium built for the Eagles. This was the first ticketed event, and it was sold out. 69,000 fans, a good 60,000 for ManU.

We went through the same routine of booing Barca and cheering Manchester as they arrived on the pitch. It was another fantastic match, both teams playing their stars. The crowd here was different than in New Jersey - instead of everyone cheering, there were whole sections singing and chanting non-stop. Here I noticed a few Canadian flags, interspersed with the St. George's Cross. No match report here either, but did I mention it was ManU 3, Barca 1?

Philadelphia
We only drove past Philadelphia. It looks like a bit of a dump.

The Crowd
Initially, it was difficult to get in the mood due to the constant cheesy music playing over the PA system and from the interruptions of advertisements. And this is the key factor that is different about watching a North American game live - you can't get a feel for the crowd. There is this strange, perceived notion that the crowd wants to hear old rock and roll tunes at every moment that the game is not being played. And I think it is a mistake. My ears are ringing after a Maple Leafs game, not from the euphoria of being in the crowd, but because of the nuisance noise blaring from the speakers at every opportunity. And this is one of the great things, for a fan, about soccer: there is no stop in the action for a full 45 minutes. So, from the time the game begins, you can become involved with the crowd. We sang, chanted and cheered till our voices were hoarse. It took me a week to get my voice back. We sang the old and new ManU songs, teased opposing fans with songs, praised our players and laughed at the opposition through songs. It is an atmosphere entirely missing from North American sports crowds. It is a great pity.