University of Georgia Athletics
Soccer’s Return To Sanford Stadium Will Be Special
July 30, 2026 | Soccer, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
The best sporting event I ever attended happened in Sanford Stadium, but it wasn't a Georgia football game. It was the 1996 Olympic men's soccer semifinal between Nigeria and Brazil, a 4-3 overtime thriller that the Nigerians won with a golden goal after rallying from 3-1 down in the second half.
Right there with it was the U.S. women's team's 2-1 win over China in the gold medal game, and its 2-1 overtime win over Norway in the semis. All three games were spectacular on their own, featuring extraordinary players doing incredible things. But the games themselves didn't make those occasions so memorable.
I've seen more than 100 football games at Sanford Stadium, first as a boy in the 1970s who grew up about a mile from the stadium and then later as a sportswriter, and plenty of Bulldog moments between the hedges have given me goosebumps over the years — the list could fill a book — but it was a game without the iconic hedges that still both gives me chills and stands as the high-water mark when it comes to the game itself and my experience in the stands.
My father, Joe, and I went to the Nigeria-Brazil game, where we sat amid people from all over the world. There were people banging drums all around us, people chanting and cheering in a variety of languages, and it was one of the most communal experiences of my life. If you watched any of this summer's World Cup games, or were lucky enough to be in the stadium for one, you probably have an idea of what I mean.
The New York Times' Sam Anderson, writing recently about his experiences at the World Cup, described the event — not just the games but the people in and out of the stadium he saw and met — perfectly: "The World Cup throws you into an ocean of maximum humanity," he wrote.
I have spent much of my life around tennis, my brothers and I learning the game from our dad and spending countless hours playing on Georgia's courts throughout our childhoods. And for the past 11 years, I've been the curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. But soccer has always been my favorite sport to play and watch, which is why having the Olympic soccer semis and finals at Sanford Stadium was so special.
To see Mia Hamm, Brianna Scurry, Julie Fowdy, Brandi Chastain, Shannan MacMillan, Ronaldo, Kanu, and so many other superstars playing soccer on the same field where I first saw Bulldog legends like Herschel Walker and Lindsay Scott, it was both wonderful and weird. It was like suddenly encountering them in your living room.
On Aug. 20, soccer will return to Sanford Stadium, between the hedges this time, when Georgia hosts James Madison in a matchup to celebrate the U.S. women's team's gold medal win 30 years ago. Tickets are free, and you can sign up for them as of today here: https://georgiadogs.evenue.net/events/SS.
The game came about after Georgia head coach Keidane McAlpine and Josh Brooks, Georgia's J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics, were talking one day.
"I was like, Man, it'd be fun to play in there, and so we just started dreaming on it," McAlpine said. "Next thing you know, here we are. We had the right occasion, right moment in time, coming off a World Cup, with the celebration of that gold medal team and gold medal game in the same year."
Now that dream is a reality. McAlpine was playing semi-pro soccer in Birmingham, Ala., when the 1996 Olympics were going on, and he saw the U.S. men play Argentina at Legion Field in Birmingham. He said he also played against France and Ghana in tune-up games ahead of the Olympics. But he didn't get to see any of the games in Athens.
In three weeks, he'll be coaching on the sidelines on Dooley Field during Georgia's "Soccer in Sanford" home opener. The NCAA record for the largest crowd to see a collegiate soccer game is 14,410 for the women and 22,512 for the men. Georgia wants to smash those marks and celebrate the special history of soccer in the stadium, while also giving the current Bulldogs an opportunity to play in front of a record-breaking crowd in one of the biggest stadiums in the country.
Come join the fun, and come do your part to create a Bulldog version of that "ocean of maximum humanity."
Staff Writer
The best sporting event I ever attended happened in Sanford Stadium, but it wasn't a Georgia football game. It was the 1996 Olympic men's soccer semifinal between Nigeria and Brazil, a 4-3 overtime thriller that the Nigerians won with a golden goal after rallying from 3-1 down in the second half.
Right there with it was the U.S. women's team's 2-1 win over China in the gold medal game, and its 2-1 overtime win over Norway in the semis. All three games were spectacular on their own, featuring extraordinary players doing incredible things. But the games themselves didn't make those occasions so memorable.
I've seen more than 100 football games at Sanford Stadium, first as a boy in the 1970s who grew up about a mile from the stadium and then later as a sportswriter, and plenty of Bulldog moments between the hedges have given me goosebumps over the years — the list could fill a book — but it was a game without the iconic hedges that still both gives me chills and stands as the high-water mark when it comes to the game itself and my experience in the stands.
My father, Joe, and I went to the Nigeria-Brazil game, where we sat amid people from all over the world. There were people banging drums all around us, people chanting and cheering in a variety of languages, and it was one of the most communal experiences of my life. If you watched any of this summer's World Cup games, or were lucky enough to be in the stadium for one, you probably have an idea of what I mean.
The New York Times' Sam Anderson, writing recently about his experiences at the World Cup, described the event — not just the games but the people in and out of the stadium he saw and met — perfectly: "The World Cup throws you into an ocean of maximum humanity," he wrote.
I have spent much of my life around tennis, my brothers and I learning the game from our dad and spending countless hours playing on Georgia's courts throughout our childhoods. And for the past 11 years, I've been the curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. But soccer has always been my favorite sport to play and watch, which is why having the Olympic soccer semis and finals at Sanford Stadium was so special.
To see Mia Hamm, Brianna Scurry, Julie Fowdy, Brandi Chastain, Shannan MacMillan, Ronaldo, Kanu, and so many other superstars playing soccer on the same field where I first saw Bulldog legends like Herschel Walker and Lindsay Scott, it was both wonderful and weird. It was like suddenly encountering them in your living room.
On Aug. 20, soccer will return to Sanford Stadium, between the hedges this time, when Georgia hosts James Madison in a matchup to celebrate the U.S. women's team's gold medal win 30 years ago. Tickets are free, and you can sign up for them as of today here: https://georgiadogs.evenue.net/events/SS.
The game came about after Georgia head coach Keidane McAlpine and Josh Brooks, Georgia's J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics, were talking one day.
"I was like, Man, it'd be fun to play in there, and so we just started dreaming on it," McAlpine said. "Next thing you know, here we are. We had the right occasion, right moment in time, coming off a World Cup, with the celebration of that gold medal team and gold medal game in the same year."
Now that dream is a reality. McAlpine was playing semi-pro soccer in Birmingham, Ala., when the 1996 Olympics were going on, and he saw the U.S. men play Argentina at Legion Field in Birmingham. He said he also played against France and Ghana in tune-up games ahead of the Olympics. But he didn't get to see any of the games in Athens.
In three weeks, he'll be coaching on the sidelines on Dooley Field during Georgia's "Soccer in Sanford" home opener. The NCAA record for the largest crowd to see a collegiate soccer game is 14,410 for the women and 22,512 for the men. Georgia wants to smash those marks and celebrate the special history of soccer in the stadium, while also giving the current Bulldogs an opportunity to play in front of a record-breaking crowd in one of the biggest stadiums in the country.
Come join the fun, and come do your part to create a Bulldog version of that "ocean of maximum humanity."
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files.
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