Thrilling call of a raccoon invading an MLS game might be the most epic of 2024

The thrilling call of a raccoon invading an MLS game might be the most epic of 2024

The Philadelphia Union and New York FC were some 20minutes into their game in the City of Brotherly Love, when a pitch invader halted play.

It wasn’t a human! It was a raccoon! And what’s more, it took nearly two minutes to capture the critter.

The best part of all this is the announcer calling the game on Apple TV was Callum Williams, and his epic call with Calen Carr was just the best, as he called it “marvelous entertainment” and rooted on the raccoon to keep going. It reminded us of when Kevin Harlan does play-by-play of field invaders.

Check this call out!

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A furry pitch invader paused Major League Soccer play on Wednesday as a rogue raccoon ran onto the field during a match between the Philadelphia Union and New York City FC.

The athletic critter ran the length of the pitch at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania, deftly evading capture while sprinting stadium staff tried to apprehend it using a trash can.

“We need to find him a ball because he’s moving very well in the center of midfield,” a commentator quipped during the kerfuffle, adding that it was “entertainment of its own kind.”

The match was paused for five minutes as crews tried and eventually succeeded in capturing the animal, dubbed “Raquinho the Raccoon” by MLS.

The Union sent out an update saying that the raccoon was “put in good hands” and was safely released.

“Unofficially, Raquinho the Raccoon spent 161 seconds on the field tonight, which was the most by a raccoon in @MLS history,” the league communications said in a post on X.

NYCFC went on to take the game 2-1 after a second-minute goal by Alonso Martínez and a Hannes Wolf free-kick in injury time in the first half.