Guest column: From World Cup final to high school soccer, every player has a story

A mere 24 hours after covering Sunday’s 2026 World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., there I was, sitting at Center Moriches High School, watching a high school summer soccer doubleheader.

The Southold and Mattituck High School boys’ teams were competing in the Town of Brookhaven Summer Soccer League.

Yes, it sounds crazy that anyone could go from covering the World Cup to writing about high school matches so quickly.

There’s always another story around the corner.

I had just completed coverage of my ninth and final World Cup. I started my journey at the 1986 tournament in Mexico and attended and reported on just about every one since, except for the 2018 and 2022 competitions.

This year, I covered the U.S. men’s national team’s group-stage success on the West Coast before returning home to cover matches in New Jersey.

I was fortunate enough to receive credentials to cover the final at MetLife, although finding the press box turned into a misadventure and a half.

Because President Trump was attending the game, security was even tighter than usual and the media shuttle dropped us nowhere near the regular entrance. After clearing a thorough Secret Service inspection, I still couldn’t find a way into the press area.

I eventually joined New York Post sportswriter Brian Lewis, who was equally lost. After 45 minutes of circling the stadium, we found a service elevator that carried us to the press box — not the most distinguished entrance to a World Cup final, but we had made it well before the 3 p.m. kickoff.

The game?

Well, only one team showed up. Spain, combining its hard-pressing style with a defense that suffocated the tournament’s greatest scorers — France’s Kylian Mbappé and Argentina’s Lionel Messi — had no trouble containing the Argentines in the final.

La Roja prevailed in extra time, 1-0. They were deserving champions, having conceded only one goal in eight matches, which was mind-boggling.

Though I have enjoyed covering World Cups, it has become more complicated over the years.

More news websites have popped up and grown, competing to cover and break more stories.

The media feeding trough known as the mixed zone — where journalists battle for position to get a few words of wisdom from players after games — can be a zoo. American reporters, by and large, are polite and try not to trample one another. Some other nationalities, not so much.

After returning from the 2014 World Cup, I covered a Brookhaven League game and told the Mattituck players that I enjoyed talking with them more than interviewing U.S. players in the World Cup mixed zone. They looked at me as though I had two heads.

After I explained that I could have an actual conversation with them instead of tossing random questions — sometimes from a disembodied voice — at players, they understood.

It’s the human factor.

That is one of the reasons I enjoy covering sports. I feel that everyone — players, coaches, and referees — has a story to tell.

It is up to me as a writer to discover that narrative and share it with you in the most informative and entertaining way possible.

Whether it is the World Cup or high school sports.