The whistle of the referee sliced faintly through the tension, and the players drifted toward their halves.
Up in the booth, the commentator took one last breath before the noise swallowed him again.
"So here we go," he said.
"The Round of 16. Arsenal. Manchester City. The kind of fixture that never needs an introduction, not in England, and not anywhere. But maybe in the US, for the first timers who have chosen to swap the hoops for goal posts."
The camera closed in on Izan for half a second, and then panned across to Nwaneri, still rolling his shoulders loose.
The crowd swelled one last time, a tide rising in red and blue, as the referee looked once at his watch and raised the whistle to his lips.
The noise hit its peak, and the screen hung for a heartbeat on the two teams frozen in motion, suspended at the edge of something inevitable.
And then, Haaland passed the ball back, starting the game.
