EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Sergio Furnari calls his car the "Siuuuu machine." It's a bit on the nose, a chunky pickup truck painted in the colors of the Portuguese flag. The real attraction, though, is what's on the back: a 6-foot high, frighteningly life-like replica of Cristiano Ronaldo, bulging thigh muscles, one finger to his lips silencing a crowd that's not actually there and not actually watching him.
"He deserves a serious monument for the next generation. It is for the next generation," Furnari told GOAL, remarkably straight faced. "We will understand CR7 in a different way from a 3-year-old or a 5-year-old or 15-year-old. He is the superman of life."
Anywhere else, and it would be an eyesore, a mere novelty. But here, at MetLife Stadium, a few hours before kickoff of the first New York fixture of the Club World Cup, it made a frightening amount of sense. Passersby laughed and took pictures.
Men, women, children, old and young, all clad in Palmeiras and Porto kits, recreated Ronaldo's celebration, as if in tribute. There was a football match to be played here on Sunday night - one of nine Club World Cup matches to be held at MetLife over tournament, including both semifinals and the July 13 final. But for a moment, Furnari was the main event.
It was a microcosm of the day.
There was Ronaldo, the name everyone knows. But in front of him, were fans of both teams in the match - strangely jovial, almost frighteningly kind to each other. A fierce, full-blooded affair this was not. Instead, in the hours leading up, it felt like an optimistic celebration of what football might be in the United States, a confusing world in which GOATs, struggling Portuguese teams and exciting Palmeiras sides all collide - all in service to an expanded 32-team Club World Cup.
This was day two of the month-long tournament, and this wasn't the soccer you know. But it's the one America can offer in this summer of soccer, and that might just be enough.
