Soccer & Indie Rock

Do you need any more proof that soccer and indie rock go together like chocolate and peanut butter?

If so, here's the confluence of my passions...amidst a nationwide tour together, The National and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah took time out for a game of soccer. And these are American bands; not a bunch of strangers in a strange land playing their comfort sport from home.

All the pictures can be seen here.

I like the fact that they wore the t-shirts that they are selling at the shows as their jerseys.

By the way, I'm still loving Clap Your Hands' debut album but The National's Alligator has been growing on me over the last few weeks. It's definitely in my top ten for the year and possibly top five by the end of the year.

The National - Abel
The National - Mr. November
The National - Baby, We'll Be Fine

On a soccer note, the second leg of the World Cup Qualifying playoff between Bahrain and Trinidad & Tobago will be on Fox Soccer Channel on Wednesday (11/16) at 11am EST (live from Bahrain; there'll be a re-broadcast of the match at 8pm EST). The first leg ended in a disappointing 1-1 draw for T&T. T&T's midfield looked horrible Saturday and if they don't pull off a great performance tomorrow, Bahrain is going to win the playoff.

If the aggregate score over the two games is tied, the first tiebreaker is away goals. Whoever scored more goals on the road wins the playoff. So, since Bahrain scored in Port of Spain on Saturday, a 0-0 draw tomorrow will send Bahrain to the World Cup over T&T. Therefore, T&T has to score a goal and will be pushing forward which will open space behind them for Bahrain. It's a tough spot to be in and even worse when your players aren't playing very well. Hopefully, the Soca Warriors have a little magic left.