More than 70,000 people filled Wembley Stadium on Sunday to watch a brutal game of American football between the Chicago Bears and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But despite the efforts of America's best, within five minutes of play it was clear who the star of the show really was: a brave, if frightened, squirrel, who had wandered onto the pitch at the start of play.
Fans who had travelled from around Europe to watch the game cheered when the squirrel ran on to the pitch.
And when it proceeded to stand its ground, even as the huge, helmeted players crashed into the turf all around it, the little critter won even more plaudits.
After 10 minutes of play even the players and referees had begun to notice the animal steadfastly refusing to move to the safety of the sidelines.
And when the small mammal eventually ran into the "red zone", where players have to run to score a touchdown, the crowd erupted in cheers.
Eventually the squirrel managed to find the sidelines and disappeared into the shadows of the hulking stadium, to the disappointment of many in the crowd.
In an emulation of the squirrel's achievement, the game was again interrupted in the second half by a fan who ran onto the pitch and removed his shirt.
But for those at Wembley it was apparent that the cheers were much less appreciative of the streaking fan than the rodent.
"We had a squirrel on the field. We had a streaker on the field," said Bears wide receiver Roy Williams, who caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jay Cutler. "So it was a great experience."