The Place To Be

I really could not have dreamed up a better place to be for the 2010 World Cup. This may be surprising, after all some people may assume it’s preferable to be on-site in South Africa or in the heart of the soccer world somewhere in Europe. However, there are many reasons why Shanghai trumps such places. First of all, China is in an fairly ideal time zone for World Cup viewing. The games are all at night: 7pm, 10pm, or 2:30am. One or more of these kickoff times would be too early or too late in all other time zones. In Shanghai, though, it’s perfect: the workday is over and the bars are crowded. (Oh, and also… the dollar is still fairly strong, making gameday food and drinks a bearable expense.) Moreover, Shanghai’s international nature assures that there will never be a game that some portion of the city isn’t excited about. Most importantly, though, in Shanghai there are lots of American ex-pats, among whom national pride runs high. Although the US doesn’t typically get excited about ‘football,’ in Shanghai even those who aren’t big soccer fans get swept up in the excitement.
Although the USA team’s World Cup campaign was cut short through a devastating turn of events, each USA game bore a very memorable night. One of the first games I watched with friends at The Spot (yes… that is the bar’s real name!). The Spot was particularly memorable for one of its American patrons: an effusive and burly man wearing a flag as a cape. This was a special flag: it was a REVERSIBLE American/Chinese flag! And he had a demure Chinese girlfriend to further complement his overall image. He played his part of the Arrogant American perfectly… drunkenly buying food and drinks for our whole corner of the bar, and getting up on the table when the US scored. Yeah… he was quite a character.
The next big game I watched was the night that the US played Algeria while England simultaneously played Slovenia. An Australian bar down the street from my apartment, Park Tavern, was showing both games outdoors on two huge projector screens, one on each side of the garden. The weather cooperated and was surprisingly cool and not humid. Most of the bar’s patrons were Englishman, so when the England game finished in a win for the English a few minutes before the USA game was over, they all erupted with cheers, thinking that the USA would be eliminated, as the score was still 0-0 for the Americans. As the Brits were all celebrating, USA’s Landon Donovan dramatically scored a goal in the final minutes of the game, meaning that the USA actually won our group, in addition to securing a place in the round of 16! At this point, the ENTIRE place was in a (jubilant) uproar, and it was probably one of my most exciting soccer-viewing experiences.



Unfortunately, the next game didn’t end quite so well. The night leading up to the game was fun. While we waited for The Camel to clear out after the South Korea game, we visited an authentic Irish pub around the corner. When I say authentic, I mean REALLY authentic. Albeit, I’ve never been to Ireland, but this place was right out of a movie – complete with an old Irish guy downing pints of Guiness and singing Irish folk songs. It was amusing, but luckily we didn’t have to wait there too long, and headed over to The Camel for the USA game against Ghana.



This time, Americans filled the bar – 98% of the patrons were cheering for the USA, and many were dressed and face-painted the part! The energy of the place was truly great. Even though the game didn’t even START until 2:30am, everyone was buzzing with excitement. Unfortunately, the USA team’s energy didn’t match that of its fans, and around 5am, the entire bar deflated in disappointment after the USA lost. To add insult to injury, there were a major shortage of cabs as the crowds poured out of all of the bars, leaving many of us wandering down the roads in the wee morning hours trying in vein to get a taxi.
As disappointed as I am that the USA made an early exit from the World Cup, I'm definitely glad that I'll no longer be obligated by patriotic loyalty to stay up for any of the 2:30am games!