Central Michigan University Athletics
World Traveler: McDonald Experiences Fifth World Cup
7/23/2010 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
MOUNT PLEASANT — A once in a lifetime trip for the most rabid soccer fans is a four-year ritual for Central Michigan volunteer assistant Ken McDonald.
McDonald, a goalkeeper for the CMU men’s soccer program from 1982-85, spent 17 days in South Africa this summer to experience the 2010 World Cup. It was the fifth-consecutive time he has enjoyed the world’s most prestigious sporting event in person.
The 1987 CMU graduate has traveled across the globe with former teammates Ed Dwyer (1981-84) and Walt Kliza (82-85). Over the past 16 years, McDonald has attended World Cup matches in America (1994), France (1998), Korea (2002), Germany (2006) and South Africa.
What started as a handful of impromptu gatherings in the ’94 tournament started growing in ’98 and became a tradition by 2002.
“It started with the 1994 World Cup because a lot of my former teammates from CMU lived near Detroit,” McDonald said. “That first year wasn’t really planned out, we just showed up the day of the match and bought our tickets at the gate.
“When we went to France for the 1998 World Cup, it was more of a vacation with our significant others and there happened to be soccer going on. As we’ve gone through this process year by year, it has primarily become a soccer trip.”
The 2002 games were a new experience for the group. They witnessed the start of the United States’ rise to competitiveness on an international level with a trip to the round of 16. After that, catching the U.S. matches took on a new importance for the traveling Chippewas.
“After the 2002 tournament, the U.S. matches were paramount to us,” McDonald said. “We only went to one USA match in 2002. It was their first one when they beat Portugal, who many picked to win the tournament that year.”
Anyone trying to find McDonald and his soccer brethren in the stands during the matches can look for their Central Michigan soccer flag, which they have taken to every World Cup match they have attended since 2006. The flag began as a way to easily spot each other at CMU homecoming, but has taken on an identity of its own among the group.
“A friend of ours from CMU created this flag because he wanted to fly it above the motor homes at homecoming to show the soccer alums where we were,” McDonald said. “After he passed away, we started bringing it with us on these trips in 2006. We place it on the deck hoping that the cameras will catch a glimpse of it so our friends and family could spot us. Soccer fans in England actually do this to show what part of the country that they are from.”
Coming into his fifth World Cup, McDonald still finds new things to appreciate about each host site. With the tournament being held on African soil, he and his group were able to appreciate the differences in how the country reacted to hosting the prestigious event.
“The streets in South Africa were overwhelming with pride over hosting this World Cup,” McDonald said. “In my previous experiences, I found that the European cities I went to took hosting the event somewhat for granted. We watched one of South Africa’s matches at the soccer village they created. It was a converted auditorium filled with thousands of people all coming together to watch soccer. There was an incredible vibe there even though South Africa lost that day.”
Of course, one of the perks of a trip like this is witnessing history on the pitch, something McDonald himself was able to do when USA played Algeria at the end of group play.
“That was a classic match,” McDonald said. “I went to eight matches and this one had the fewest goals, but had the most excitement. It was such an incredible experience because the balance of the contest hinged on one moment. When Landon Donovan scored in stoppage time to give USA the win, the whole stadium erupted, it was unbelievable.”
With the World Cup concluded, the group already started planning for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. This time, however, McDonald is aiming at expanding the tradition to include the friends he made in South Africa.
“We were actually able to stay with friends of (CMU assistant field hockey coach) Earl Marais,” McDonald said. “We became great friends through the trip and our 2014 plans will hopefully include meeting them in Brazil.
“The South Africans have a saying to 'make the circle bigger', which is based on the idea that everything is better when you bring more people into the mix. That is what we are trying to do in four years and it would be amazing if we could pull it off.”
McDonald, a goalkeeper for the CMU men’s soccer program from 1982-85, spent 17 days in South Africa this summer to experience the 2010 World Cup. It was the fifth-consecutive time he has enjoyed the world’s most prestigious sporting event in person.
The 1987 CMU graduate has traveled across the globe with former teammates Ed Dwyer (1981-84) and Walt Kliza (82-85). Over the past 16 years, McDonald has attended World Cup matches in America (1994), France (1998), Korea (2002), Germany (2006) and South Africa.
What started as a handful of impromptu gatherings in the ’94 tournament started growing in ’98 and became a tradition by 2002.
“It started with the 1994 World Cup because a lot of my former teammates from CMU lived near Detroit,” McDonald said. “That first year wasn’t really planned out, we just showed up the day of the match and bought our tickets at the gate.
“When we went to France for the 1998 World Cup, it was more of a vacation with our significant others and there happened to be soccer going on. As we’ve gone through this process year by year, it has primarily become a soccer trip.”
The 2002 games were a new experience for the group. They witnessed the start of the United States’ rise to competitiveness on an international level with a trip to the round of 16. After that, catching the U.S. matches took on a new importance for the traveling Chippewas.
“After the 2002 tournament, the U.S. matches were paramount to us,” McDonald said. “We only went to one USA match in 2002. It was their first one when they beat Portugal, who many picked to win the tournament that year.”
Anyone trying to find McDonald and his soccer brethren in the stands during the matches can look for their Central Michigan soccer flag, which they have taken to every World Cup match they have attended since 2006. The flag began as a way to easily spot each other at CMU homecoming, but has taken on an identity of its own among the group.
“A friend of ours from CMU created this flag because he wanted to fly it above the motor homes at homecoming to show the soccer alums where we were,” McDonald said. “After he passed away, we started bringing it with us on these trips in 2006. We place it on the deck hoping that the cameras will catch a glimpse of it so our friends and family could spot us. Soccer fans in England actually do this to show what part of the country that they are from.”
Coming into his fifth World Cup, McDonald still finds new things to appreciate about each host site. With the tournament being held on African soil, he and his group were able to appreciate the differences in how the country reacted to hosting the prestigious event.
“The streets in South Africa were overwhelming with pride over hosting this World Cup,” McDonald said. “In my previous experiences, I found that the European cities I went to took hosting the event somewhat for granted. We watched one of South Africa’s matches at the soccer village they created. It was a converted auditorium filled with thousands of people all coming together to watch soccer. There was an incredible vibe there even though South Africa lost that day.”
Of course, one of the perks of a trip like this is witnessing history on the pitch, something McDonald himself was able to do when USA played Algeria at the end of group play.
“That was a classic match,” McDonald said. “I went to eight matches and this one had the fewest goals, but had the most excitement. It was such an incredible experience because the balance of the contest hinged on one moment. When Landon Donovan scored in stoppage time to give USA the win, the whole stadium erupted, it was unbelievable.”
With the World Cup concluded, the group already started planning for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. This time, however, McDonald is aiming at expanding the tradition to include the friends he made in South Africa.
“We were actually able to stay with friends of (CMU assistant field hockey coach) Earl Marais,” McDonald said. “We became great friends through the trip and our 2014 plans will hopefully include meeting them in Brazil.
“The South Africans have a saying to 'make the circle bigger', which is based on the idea that everything is better when you bring more people into the mix. That is what we are trying to do in four years and it would be amazing if we could pull it off.”
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