Credit: X

Credit: X

On Wednesday, May 15, a raccoon invaded the Major League Soccer (MLS) game at Subaru Park between the Philadelphia Union and the New York City FC, halting play for several minutes. The native mammal of the Northern American continent got massive cheers from the crowd in Philly, who chanted “Raccoon, Racoon,” while it managed to evade several stadium workers.

The raccoon was eventually caught by the workers at Subaru Park, who were using trash cans and other objects to get the job done. The Philadelphia Union sent out a post on their official X account to inform that the raccoon was put in good hands with a pest company following which it was “safely released.”

“Our friend was put in good hands with @HoffmansPest and has been safely released!” posted Philadelphia Union on X. Meanwhile, Major League Soccer revealed that the raccoon unofficially spent 161 seconds on the field at Subaru Park, calling it “Raquinho the Raccoon”.

Watch the video here:

After the raccoon was safely taken away from the football pitch in the first half, the match between the Philadelphia Union and the New York City FC resumed in front of a capacity crowd at Subaru Park.

New York City FC took a 2-0 lead in the first half, through a strike by Hannas Wolf in the extra time after Alonso Martinez had scored in the second minute. Philadelphia Union pulled a goal back via Julian Carranza in the 47th minute, but they were unable to find the equalizer against a very resolute defense of the opposition.