I’ve seen my fair share of great matches all around this globe. But, thanks to the soccer gods, I’ve also been privy to some otherworldly games right here in our neck of the saguaros.
Saturday night could very well enter that mix of classic close-by confrontations. FC Tucson will try to pick up the first playoff win of its professional existence when it takes on the Richmond Kickers in a USL League One first-round match at Kino North Stadium.
The tantalizing prospect of that affair brings up the Old Pueblo version of the age-old soccer fan question: What are the best matches you’ve ever seen?
Well, Tucson has actually seen quite a few of them at all levels — from high school to junior college to college to developmental soccer to the pros to even an international match.
Like soccer, the ground rules are pretty simple in picking the top tilts. The matches had to be played somewhere in the metro Tucson area and they had to check all/most of the five boxes on the quality control list created by Inspector Ord.
What, you say, does that list entail? Obviously, you have to start with the circumstances — aka something should be on the line — a playoff berth, an undefeated season, a title, a chance to take soccer a step further.
Next, you need to sprinkle in an atmosphere that proves it was worthy of catching attention.
Third, it needs to have performers that bring a buzz to the match or create a buzz during the match.
That brings us to the fourth attribute: quality of the match — how nail-biting, edge-of-you-seat, shuffling-your-feet-while-standing was it?
Lastly, and quite often not realized at the time, is the impact: When you look back do you smile and say, “I was there.”
Because each one of the Best XI is special in its own right, we are not ranking them No. 1 through No. 11 but rather listing them from most recent to oldest. It’s somewhat top-heavy on the last year, but let’s face it, Tucson soccer has had a great 2021.
So, without further confetti cannons, here’s a look at Tucson’s Best XI:
Pro playoffs, here we come
Date: Oct. 30, 2021. Where: Kino North Stadium.
FC Tucson needed a win in its regular-season finale to make the playoffs for the first time in its professional history. Facing a team it had never defeated before and a former FC Tucson coach, Jon Pearlman’s Men in Black rallied for a 4-2 win over the Richmond Kickers in front of a bustling crowd that cheered from start to finish and beyond.
Virus be damned
Date: July 10, 2021. Where: Kino North Stadium.
COVID-19 had wiped out their 2020 season and also canceled their 2021 playoffs, but the FC Tucson Women were not about to let those setbacks affect their performance. Guided by former Salpointe star Kelly Pierce, they not only brought home the WPSL Desert Conference title with ease but wrapped up an undefeated season (7-0-1) with a 3-0 win over the El Paso Surf. Former Mexico national team player Luz Duarte scored two in that match to raise her club-record single-season scoring mark to 12 goals.
Salpointe Catholic coach Wolfgang Weber gets doused in the aftermath of the Lancers’ 5-1 win against Walden Grove in March’s Class 4A state championship game.
No. 8 for one of the greats
Date: March 20, 2021. Where: Mountain View High School.
COVID-19 led to restrictions, but a few hundred fans still showed up to see the Salpointe Catholic High School boys secure the eighth title in Wolfgang Weber’s illustrious five-decade career with a 5-1 win over Walden Grove. “There had been a lot of talk about my eighth title and I was trying to get the focus away from me and get it on the team,” said Weber, whose boys went 14-0-1.
Hugo to the rescue
Date: Nov. 3, 2018. Where: Kino North Stadium.
Seventeen seconds into the second overtime, Hugo Kametani scored one of his seven game-winning goals that season to lift Pima College’s men’s team to a 1-0 win over Snow College to secure a place in the NJCAA Division I national tournament. The Aztecs would claim four more wins and the national title later that month in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Canada's Doneil Henry is able to clear the ball under a lunging Nicolai Jorgensen of Denmark in the first half of their 2013 international friendly at Kino Stadium.
We go global
Date: Jan. 26, 2013. Where: Kino Stadium.
It had been cold and rainy leading up to the match and the crowd reached just over 3,000 for an international friendly that saw Denmark coast past Canada 4-0. But all that can’t hinder the truly unfathomable fact that Tucson held an international match. These games are the pinnacle level of the sport. Every child schooled in soccer in this entire world wants to play for their national team. And as I often say, even years later, “Can you believe we held an international match?”
The Los Angeles Galaxy's David Beckham signs autographs and poses for photos after a game against Real Salt Lake at the Desert Diamond Cup.
Bending it in Tucson
Date: Feb. 22, 2012. Where: Kino Stadium.
No one that night was sure how much global sensation and guy with a brilliant right foot David Beckham would play, but one thing was for sure: Even those not well-versed in the beautiful game were giddy to see the beautiful guy. He didn’t disappoint the 5,537 in attendance at that MLS preseason doubleheader — his cross set up a goal in the L.A. Galaxy’s 3-2 loss to the New England Revolution and afterward he signed many autographs and patiently waded through interviews.
Appealing to the masses
Date: March 5, 2011. Where: Hi Corbett Field.
Exactly 10,097 fans attended a soccer doubleheader at a sold-out Hi Corbett Field. Let me repeat that: 10,097 fans attended a soccer doubleheader at a sold-out Hi Corbett Field. For the first time in Tucson, in a venue in which the word “doubleheader” was exclusively associated with baseball, soccer became the showcase … and the people came. And the players performed: FC Tucson, playing just the second match in its existence, drew 3-3 with Arizona Sahuaros and then the New York Red Bulls, with international stars Thierry Henry and Rafa Marquez, drew 2-2 with newly name-changed Sporting Kansas City.
They’ve got depth
Date: Feb. 10, 2007. Where: Murphey Field at Mulcahy Soccer Stadium.
In the week leading up to the state title game, Catalina Foothills High School girls coach Charlie Kendrick suspended six players for violating team rules. But the Falcons showed the bench could stand tall with a 1-0 win over Cienega on senior Sara Walker’s 68th-minute goal. It meant a third straight title, an undefeated season and unbeaten streak that had reached an unfathomable 72 games.
Taking the Dawgs down
Date: Oct. 10, 2004. Where: Murphey Field at Mulcahy Soccer Stadium.
The Arizona Wildcats women’s team started an amazing week of success with a stunning 3-1 win over Washington. UA soccer legend Mallory Miller scored two of the three second-half goals as the UA rallied to beat the fourth-ranked Huskies. The Wildcats traveled to Stanford six days later and beat the Cardinal for the first time ever. A month later, the UA made its first NCAA playoff appearance.
Amazin’ Amigos
Date: Aug. 8, 1992. Where: Rincon High School.
Let’s harken back to a time when there was no MLS and when saying you were a soccer fan often resulted in a “what team do you play for?” response. Believe it or not, there was soccer in Tucson then. And it was pretty darn good soccer too. The Tucson Amigos were even good enough to reach the final of the USISL national tournament. But to reach what they called “the Sizzling Six” of the national tourney, they had to defeat the El Paso Patriots in a regional playoff match at Rincon. In the first really do-or-die match in Tucson history, Ralf Wilhelms scored both goals in a 2-1 win to send Wolfgang Weber’s men to Orlando, Florida.
George Best's match at Arizona Stadium was front-page news in a 1978 edition of the Star.
Simply, the Best
Date: March 12, 1978. Where: Arizona Stadium. The rain poured, keeping the crowd down, and it was an NASL exhibition, but it was George Best. Little else mattered. Saying you saw George Best play is like saying “Yeah, I saw da Vinci paint” or “I once watched Baryshnikov dance.” Best, a Northern Irishman who had seen glory days with Manchester United, and his Los Angeles Aztecs lost 3-0 to the Dallas Tornado that day, but Best still amazed the crowd with his footwork and dribbling runs.
