World Cup Pub Crawl

2006-07-12T22:19:00.000+01:00

ZiDam

As part of the grand finale of the World Cup Pub Crawl blog, we were all dispatched to various parts of the world. Pooch and Leah had France covered, as you've read below, and Kate was sampling the atmosphere in Italy. Dann, Fu, Arun and I had pulled the short straw and been packed off to Amsterdam to experience the World Cup final from a Dutch perspective.

We immediately discovered that the main street had been decorated with flags from every nation in the World Cup, as had various other streets across the city. I couldn't spot a St George's flag but I'm sure it was there somewhere.

We watched the 3rd/4th place play-off in a small and friendly bar, with a few Germans dotted about. We had planned to go for Portuguese tapas beforehand but had run out of time as our attempts to beat the mythical 100 million mark on word-search got slightly out of hand.

Even though we were watching the BBC1 broadcast, the commentary was in Dutch. This was initially pleasing, as we felt it all added to the experience, but there were two problems with it. Not for the first time during our travels, the commentary was ahead of the pictures. This largely spoiled any suspense about whether the attack would culminate in a goal as the noise of the crowd and level of the commentator's excitement would already have given the game away.

The second problem was that the commentary consisted almost entirely of the players' names. There was no analysis, which was fortunate for us since we wouldn't have understood it, but I'm surprised the Dutch put up with this week-in, week-out. I guess it must be for people with small TVs who can't tell who's on the ball...

We watched the final in a suitably packed bar with the French on one side of us and the Italians on the other.

The Italians danced around crazily for quite some time afterwards. I actually thought at one point, "Alright - calm down", and then I realised they had just won the World Cup, and tried to imagine how they must be feeling. Will us poor England fans ever get to experience that feeling?!

The French fans took it well, remaining unsurprisingly silent - presumably dumb-struck by the drama of the Zidane incident and the penalty shoot-out. At least England go out on penalties before the final, so that we all know we would never have won it playing like that anyway. The French, much like the Italians 12 years ago, know that one missed spot-kick cost them everything. I don't think we're ready for that disappointment...

2006-07-11T13:02:00.000+01:00

Zidane over la butte?

Paris, France - Saturday 8th July

I've been here around six hours now, mostly spent walking round soaking up the atmosphere. What atmosphere though? No-one seems to know there's a football match on tomorrow let alone the FIFA World Cup final. I've only seen six people wearing French shirts, one of them being an English boy on the Eurostar and another was me. If this was London and England playing in the final I imagine there would be a sea of red and white everywhere

There seems to be little interest in the bars either, perhaps it will pick up tomorrow...

Paris, France - Sunday 9th July

Last night Leah wasn't sure where we should watch the game, L' Hotel de Ville didn't seem to have a big screen up though I found out there was one at the Parc des Princes - quite a long way on the Metro though. So I started to ask everyone I met where they were watching it. Most of them said in a bar but it was the response of my (English) waiter at lunch which was most intriguing "Whatever you do, stay away from the Champs Elysees. I was there in '98 and it was mental, you won't be able to move after the game".

So I finished up my lunch, went back to the hotel to put my France shirt on and headed straight for the Champs Elysees. The buzz was phenomenal, people just seemed to be driving up and down papping their horns and waving drapeau tricolore:

I saw quite a few cars pass me twice on my way from the Arc D' Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde and back, petrol must be cheap in France! I started to explore some of the side streets in an attempt to find a suitable venue - it wasn't too hard and I soon got cracking on the Kriek framboise beer and talking away to the French in the bar as best I could.

About half an hour before kick-off the bar started to get really packed, people were sitting in the street outside and watching the TV through a mirror in the bar. The riot police parked their van outside a bar opposite so they could watch. La Marseillaise was rousing and it soon became apparent that we had a trumpet, a drum and an air-horn in the bar - when France got and scored the early penalty all three were used to good effect and you could hear similar sounds echoing round the streets.

You all know the story of the game the crowd in the bard couldn't believe Zidane had been sent-off for the head-butt, they seemed to think it was harsh and I feigned some sympathy as it was clearly a lot worse than Rooney's transgression. "Zizou, Zizou" was chanted almost constantly for the rest of the game and we had another chorus of La Marseillaise during extra time as France looked like settling it before penalties.

Penalties did indeed arrive though and I thought about leaving lest I bring some of the English luck to mes amis. It was not to be and the bar emptied promptly and swiftly and I followed the herd to the Champs Elysees to sample the reaction:

The crowd clearly weren't overly happy and the riot police looked a bit much for me so I fled pretty quickly back to my hotel. I don't think there was much trouble but I was just a little unsure which way things would go in such an alien country. I met a gaggle of Italians on the way back and they seemed a bit lairy at first but once I explained I was English and said "congratulazioni" a few times we had some hugs and on I went.

The French are an enigma to me, they don't wear their heart on their sleeve as much as us lot, it's a much more Laissez-Faire attitude. I had a wonderful time though and it was a fitting end to what for me has been an emotional and perhaps even life-changing four weeks.

I'll try and some it all up in the next few days, I can't really find the right word right now.

Congratulazioni Italia,

Pooch
x

2006-07-10T02:13:00.000+01:00

Finally...

We saw the last game in a cinema! Every seat was taken by at least 200 local students. The atmosphere was vibrant with everyone shouting for either the Blues or the Azures.

Each person responded to the mexican waves by standing up and throwing their arms in the air or tossing their heads back with patronizing sarcasm.

The tepid overtime period was enlivened by some indefensible violence from Zidane. It was thrilling to see the enthusiasm with which an experienced professional could tear up his ticket to to the pantheon of sporting heros.

2006-07-07T17:09:00.000+01:00

A Tale Of Two Cities

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times and so it was with this world cup. In the first half we saw some stunning displays from Argentina, experienced some magical crowds watching with the Brazilians and at least had a hope that the England team would wake up.

In the second half of the tournament the on-field thrills have been few and far between with Argentina v Mexico a highlight amongst the agony of England and there's been personal drama for myself as I've moved flats and lost a fiancee.

Finally we come to the closing weekend of the tournament and the World Cup Pub Crawl crew leave blighty to get an international perspective. So look out for reports from Leah and myself in Paris and Joe, Arun and the gang in Amsterdam.

We tried to tell them to head to Rome but they love those crazy Oranje too much.

It's been emotional and I'm sure there's one last twist in store, can Zizou open up a Cannavaro worms?

We will see...

2006-07-07T09:43:00.000+01:00

It's All Sharapova As Maria Is Mauresmorised

Don't worry blog-fans we've not gone all tennis on you but we couldn't let our pun-writing skill go rusty during yet another rest day in the FIFA World Cup.

Here's a couple of football snippets to keep you going:

1) It looks like Winker Ronaldo's reign as the probable winner of the Young Player of the tournament award is over - following a warning received via email yesterday the young Ecaudorian genius Luis Valencia has sailed into a commanding lead. All credit to him, his skill was evdient for all to see.

2) What's with FIFA's nominations for Player of the tournament? Henry has been largely anonymous for quite a few of the games, only popping up to take a couple of dives to secure France's passage through the knockout stages. No Riquelme? No Torres? What exactly has Ballack done?

At least we get some football tomorrow even if is only the third/fouth place play-off.

Gutes Glück Deutschland!

Pooch
x

2006-07-06T13:25:00.000+01:00

International Football

Here are some more pictures of the Portuguese players in last night's match.

More naked men

2006-07-05T22:40:00.000+01:00

International Diving

This game really just drove home how crap England must have been to not beat Portugal. It was a pretty dull affair, with most of the excitement provided by Portugal's comedic diving. France deserved to win but only seemed to care marginally more than Portugal, who didn't look like they were even vaguely bothered. All in all, a let down compared to yesterday's offering.

In my opinion, Italy have played the most consistently attractive football this tournament so I'll be rooting for them in the final. I could handle France winning as long as Zidane turns on the style, but not if they play like this again. Barthez was running down the clock from the 65th minute...

Naked men

2006-07-05T14:32:00.000+01:00

Come Il Calcio Sui Maccheroni

I think I might have come up with an Italian pun there. It nearly means "just what the doctor ordered" (or literally "like the cheese on the macaroni"), but I've replaced the word "cacio" with "calcio", which means "football". Maybe. Could an Italian speaker please verify.

In one of the best games of the tournament, there was refreshingly little diving and injury-feigning and plenty of attacking football.

The Italian supporters at Carluccio's were passionate, creating a very good atmosphere, as Pooch said. From my vantage point at the back, it was pretty difficult to see what was happening on the pitch, but I managed to arrange myself so that I could see two thirds of the screen. Whenever Italy got near the opposition goal, some of the crowd would stand up in excitment, meaning we only had the exitement of the crowd as a measure of whether the chance had been taken and the goal scored. This was my view - you can just make out the TV:

The crowd went suitably mad when Italy finally took the lead, two minutes short of the inevitable penalties defeat. They were still jumping around, spilling drinks, breaking stuff and kissing random people when Del Boy Piero scored a second goal for Italy a minute later. There was such excitement and flailing that a number of people, Italian and from the blog posse, were unclear whether the extra cheering was for the replay of the first goal or in fact for another goal.

It was also the hottest venue we've visited, as Pooch mentioned. I wonder how it compared to the temperature on the pitch. This was the best way of keeping cool, and this was our main reason for ordering all that wine:

2006-07-05T10:55:00.000+01:00

Carluccio's Way

Trying to lift ourselves up from England's (in-)glorious defeat on Saturday has been difficult but what better way than watching a fine and attacking Italian side "stick one on" the Germans.

We watched the game at Carluccio’s and it was essential to get there early. When we arrived at 6pm it was already starting to fill and by 7.30pm it was pretty "intimate" but there were some handy tables at the back where we tucked into an "Antipasto Massimo" and attempted to stave off the energy-sapping heat with copious amounts of vino bianco.

As the players emerged from the tunnel the atmosphere started to ramp up and Fratelli d'Italia was sung with a gusto second only to Le Marseillaise at the Bar Des Magis.

The game commenced and our wine got held up at the bar as the waiters also settled down to watch too. The service in general though was fantastic with the waiters doing a sterling job under trying circumstances.

Italy played much the better in the first half, like France they've really improved as the tournament has progressed. Gattuso was immense stamping his authority on the midfield like Rooney on Carvalho. The second half was a little more even with Germany creating a couple of scoring opportunities.

Extra time beckoned and we indicated in some banter with our Italian neighbours that they had better score in open play as if it went to penalties "You're in trouble!" and with a little cajoling from our friends I managed to start a chorus of "Italia, Italia, Italia" and it must have influenced things in Dortmund as the Azzuri hit the woodwork with two fine efforts early in extra time. wave after wave of Italian attacks came but it was beginning to look like it might not be their night. Then, at the death, come il cacio sui maccheroni! - Grosso struck and the place went wild, chairs were knocked over, drinks spilled and there was even kissing of my cheeks - one of the few times I'll allow men to kiss my cheeks is after such a superbly timed goal.

Before the melee had subsided Del Piero made it two and the crowd went even more wild. A lot of us didn't see that second goal as the TV was obscured but I can assure you all it was very well taken. The celebrations continued in St. Christopher's place as we went outside to get some deserved and needed fresh air.

Making my way home two things were on my mind:

1) The celebrations after the game were amazing but as we turned the corner and headed down the street we were back in London again and no-one knew we'd just spent four hours in an outpost of Italy. I couldn't help but imagine how it would be if England had got to the final, it would be like that everywhere.

2) If France get through tonight I'm going to be really torn on who to support on Sunday, I admire both countries, the food, the drink, the language, the people and both bars we've been to for those countries have had electric and very friendly atmospheres. Let us cross that bridge when we come to it though and concentrate on supporting Les Bleus tonight.

Many thanks to Carluccio's and, if you want to support Italy on Sunday and are looking for a venue I can thoroughly recommend it.

Congratulazioni Italia!

Ciao,

Pooch

2006-07-04T12:56:00.000+01:00

Give Me Hope Jo'anna

Joe and I (and Gary Neville it seems) had been under the impression that England have absolutely no chance at the next FIFA World Cup as it is to be held in South Africa and the temperatures are bound to be too stifling for us Anglo-Saxons.

We'd all missed the obvious fact that South Africa is in the Southern Hemisphere and therefore June/July is their Winter - this is odd as we're all quite intelligent.

The BBC reports the current daytime temperatures as follows:

Cape Town 17 degrees
Pretoria 18 degrees
East London 22 degrees
Durban 23 degrees

These temperatures are about right for this time of year and the humidity is not bad too. Considering the heatwave currently in London we'll be better off playing in South Africa than in blighty.

McErikkson should be out of the picture by then and hopefully with some of the younger players maturing and some of the older chaff long retired we are all set up for an England win. Let's just hope we don't Messina it up, only four more though years eh?

Anyway, back to more contemporary matters: tonight we'll be attempting to watch the game at Carluccio's at St. Christoper's Place (Nearest Tube: Bond Street). Commentary will be Italian as will the delicious wine and food.

Personally I hope they will beat the Germans but I'm not that bothered about any of the remaining teams except Les Bleus who at least play decent football (sometimes).

Arrivederci

2006-07-02T00:23:00.000+01:00

France Just Too Ribery For Kaka Brazil

Zidane was at his majestic best today to lead France into the semi-finals. Almost every highlight of the game involves him doing something amazing. Brazil didn't really perform. They turned the style on towards the end, with Ronaldo reminiscent of his old self at times, but it was too little too late and France deservedly went through.

We watched it in The Pontefract Castle on Wigmore St. It gradually became apparent over the course of the game that there was a large French contingent there. In the second half the crowd got gradually more vocal - and the give away was that they were speaking French - but it was still a surprise at the final whistle when the whole place erupted.

I wonder when the last World Cup was with all four semi-finalists coming from Europe. Anyone?

2006-06-30T13:44:00.000+01:00

Portly-gal

Here's a great picture of Nuno Valente ahead of tomorrow's big game.

We're planning on watching the big game at The One Tun on Goodge St.

We watched the England v Argentina game there in the last World Cup and there was a good atmosphere so we thought we'd give it another go after the recent Crown And Two Chairmen debacle.

See you all there, beloved readers.

2006-06-29T13:37:00.000+01:00

Exclusive!

World Cup Pub Crawl has managed to obtain this exclusive video of the Italian team training. Shocking stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRO626ImQek&search=italy%20dive

2006-06-29T13:09:00.000+01:00

Pauleta

After some bad experiences with the English media over the past few days Pauleta speaks exclusively to us here at World Cup Pub Crawl to try and clear things up:

WCPC: We have many questions for you from our readers. I hope you have time to answer them all?
Pauleta: You are allowed three questions and now you have two left you stupid English.

WCPC: What do you say to accusations that you and your Portuguese colleagues are "insubordinate and violent"?
Pauleta: I take orders from no-one, if you ask me these questions again I'm going to come round your house and smash your face up.

WCPC: I think we're going to have to leave it there. Thanks Pauleta.
Pauleta: You are the weakest link, goodbye.

We also managed to get some word in response to Pauleta from Paul Robinson who, taking some time out from his busy schedule managing the Lassiter's hotel, said: "I can't understand what all the fuss is about, I've never even heard of this Pauleta character. Does he live with Harold and Madge?"

Interesting stuff indeed but I'm sure we all wish this phony-war was over and we could get down to the nitty-gritty of Portugal vs. England

2006-06-29T09:52:00.000+01:00

Hannover rest day in Germany

We're as bored as Daniele DeRossi's boot-cleaner here at blog HQ as we're left to boil in our own soup for the second day in a row.

To keep things ticking over here's some photos of Kev at the France vs Togo game last week:

Henry thinking about his next dive

Also, a plea to our readers: we need a venue for the England game on Saturday. It needs to have a good atmosphere, big screen(s), be unpretentious (a proper pub preferably) and be within easy reach of central London. Any ideas would be gratefully appreciated in the form of a comment.

Expect a little more excitement from us tomorrow as we attempt some Klose contact with the Germans.

Until then,

Pooch
x

2006-06-27T23:22:00.000+01:00

Spain and Ghana Go Out Of The FIFA World Cup (TM) 2006 By Virtue Of Scoring Less Goals Than France and Brazil Respectively

Today's title is a reaction to Pooch's incessant search for football related puns. This has all been prompted by the Guardian podcast. An otherwise good game was spoiled for me by his lengthy attempts to work the name "Torres", into some sort of valid pun involving bulls or something. It wasn't clear where he was trying to go with it.

France 3 - 1 Spain

Kev, Pooch, Arun and I watched the France v Spain game in Bar Sol Ona, which is fittingly a pun itself I guess, with the Spanish and a few French. France were at the most impressive I'm seen them this tournament, but I was sorry to see Spain go - particularly Torres who I'd like to see more of - in a purely footballing scenario.

Brazil 3 - 0 Ghana

Brazil outclassed Ghana in the afternoon game. I've heard reports that Ghana maybe deserved to win but they played with a ridiculously high defensive line which gave Brazil about ten one-on-ones. Brazil could have scored a lot more.

Diving / Feigning Injury

It occurred to a couple of us recently that there may be a solution to the problem of players diving and feigning injury.

Under our new proposal, following any prolonged period of lying on the turf (say 5 seconds), the player must leave the pitch - and here's the genius part - and is not allowed to return until he's completed a lap of the pitch.

That would put the feigner in a quandary as he has to decide whether to continue pretending to be injured as he limps around his lap of the pitch, thus further delaying his return to the game. If the player really is injured then he won't mind a bit of a chance to run off the injury before entering the fray again.

I can't see any flaws with it.

2006-06-27T00:18:00.000+01:00

Penitaly

Get it?

Back to work today I'm afraid, so no exciting venues to report. The adventure's not over yet though, with a new Spanish/French bar tomorrow and further suitable locations for the eight remaining matches.

I had to watch the Italy v Australia game in the work cafeteria, where I found a couple of Italians and an Australian. One of the Italians fell asleep but the game was quite entertaining. Our antipodean cousins fell to the final kick of the game, and the entire cafeteria erupted into silence - possibly annoyance that there would be no extra time and we had to return to our desks.

No interesting pictures from today so here's a picture of the plate of cheese Dann ordered from Linda's Italian on Poland St during the previous Italy game. Even the Italian waiting staff were amazed to find that the entire plate was for just one man. The pictured side helping of mozarella is Dann's too. Remarkable.

Switzerubbish 0 - 0 Ukrap

The Switzerland v Ukraine game was almost too bad to describe. After a couple of early shots at the crossbar, we became concerned neither team would ever score, even in the penalty shoot-out. We came to the horrifying conclusion that in such a situation the game would only end in about 50 years when enough of the players had died for the match to be abandoned due to one of the teams falling below the required 7 men. Switzerland tried to prove us right by missing all three of their penalties but Ukraine did manage to put one or two away.

2006-06-26T13:30:00.000+01:00

[Insert own pun-based title]

England continued their triumphant stumble to FIFA World Cup (TM) glory, while Portugal and Holland sorted the whole thing out with a good old fashioned fight.

England 1 - 0 Ecuador

We watched the England game at the Vibe Bar on Brick Lane as part of the Xbox360 Believe events. The atmosphere was good in the Vibe Bar arena, with plenty of chanting and cheering, and slightly too much throwing of beer onto other people's heads.

There were still a lot of people there who needed to have the rules explained to them, but I guess that's what you'd expect. It's been said that you can't expect anything else if you pay for something you can get for free, but I reckon it would be pretty much the same anywhere in these heady days of football and hay fever.

I'm beginning to suspect, however, that I should watch the England games alone in a darkened room - just me, a TV and the FiveLive commentary. I need the comfort of the commentary to coax me through the trauma, but I don't seem to be able to put up with anyone other than Martin Tyler and Andy Gray these days. And watching England's not about singing or dancing or drinking to me - it's about shouting at the screen and watching the clock. It's better than watching the players at least.

Portugal 1 - 0 Holland

This game was pure comedy. Possibly the most entertaining game of the World Cup so far, it went almost exactly as I'd have liked, with plenty of sending offs and the odd injury. If everything goes according to plan, Portugal could be without their entire midfield for the England game - though Figo seems to have got away with his head-butt. Ideally, the game would have gone to extra time to allow time for a few more sendings off and a bit more dehydration.

I'd say Portugal deserved to win though. Holland hit the bar and had a couple of other chances but I was largely unimpressed. They dived too much, refused to give the ball back to the Portuguese after play had been stopped for an injury, and blatantly went after Christiano Ronaldo, who still managed to play his part in the goal before going off injured.

To underline the inadequacy of modern co-commentators, David Pleat came out with some classics - most of which I can't remember but notably including "[That shot] was as swift as a shot".

Portugal's victory set up a third consecutive quarter final meeting between Sven's England and Big Phil. Third time lucky eh?

2006-06-25T11:40:00.000+01:00

Mexi Can't

It was a fun night at the Rhythms of Latin America festival at the ICA last night. The evening began with some Brazilian folk music from which set the scene well but the place really started buzzing when Alan Hansen's visage sprang up on one of the two big projection screens (supplemented by a nice widescreen plasma).

The crowd was pretty much 50-50 in terms of support but it was the Mexicans who were the most vocal through the first half. Here's some of the Argentinian contingent, enjoying a rare moment of jubilation after their first goal:

Indeed the Argentinian ladies seemed fraught with nerves, here's a photo of their realisation that Messi's perfectly fine late goal had been ruled offside:

I got the impression the lady in black was a Mexican supporter! Extra time beckoned and the wonder-goal from Rodriguez capped a superb evening of entertainment (though I think the plaudits given by Hansen et. al. were going a little too far).

The venue was very good - it was packed, passionate and so hot David Beckham would probably have only lasted twenty minutes. The only problem was getting to the bar which was a bit of a task but as I was saving myself for a big afternoon today it wasn't too much of a problem.

With the proceeds from the evening going to a good cause I went home very tired but with a warm glow - let's hope that I still feel as charitable to the Ecuadorians this evening.

2006-06-24T13:19:00.000+01:00

Fran-tastic

Togo 0-2 France
Switzerland 2-0 South Korea

With Switzerland and South Korea heading up Group G leading into tonight's action, we headed to Bouchon Bar near Clapham Junction to take in some French angst firsthand. Arriving immediately after the Group H games, we surprisingly found the best seats in the house already occupied ... however our usurpers won our friendship when Cecile (right) painted all our faces with the Tricolor.

Settling into the second best seats in the house (that the helpful barstaff allowed us to reconfigure for optimal football viewing) we enjoyed the buildup to the game of French wine, French cheese, and French "Who wants to be a millionaire". At kick off the bar had filled out nicely, but as the game progressed and France failed to find the net the tension began to mount. Heres a photo of Cecile barely able to bring herself to watch ...

French support was unwavering however (although curiously there seems to an unwritten law that states all chants must be based on the word "Allez!") and eventually they were rewarded with two quickfire second half goals cueing scenes of jubilation.

All in all, it was a successful visit ... the passion of the French fans surprised me, I found myself chanting "Allez Les Bleus!" with the best of them, and I wasn't the only one. Pooch was drumming on the table so much his hands were bleeding by the end of the night - the idiot. Roll on France v Spain.

2006-06-24T13:10:00.000+01:00

Senoritas

Saudi Arabia 0-1 Spain
Ukraine 1-0 Tunisia

Castilla on Battersea Rise hosted us for the final Group H games. With Spain needing only a draw to secure top spot in the Group, Aragones fielded his reserve team, denying us the pleasure of seeing the flair of Torres and co dominate another game.

So while the game wasn't all we'd hoped for, the venue was excellent - friendly Spanish staff, excellent tapas and sangria, made all the sweeter by the arrival midway through the first half of a group of attractive young Spanish ladies - one of whom I think is the best looking girl we've seen on our FIFA World Cup inspired travels. A bold claim - and one that caused some controversy - but I stand behind it. Sadly at this stage I can't post any photos - however this will be rectified within the next 24 hours (likely as a comment to this post) so stay tuned ...

2006-06-23T12:29:00.000+01:00

Bonjour Mes Amis

Just a quick word about the plan for the upcoming weekend:

Today from 5pm: France vs Togo ko. 8pm
Bouchon Bar @ Clapham Junction

Watch Grandpa Zizou and his team of undersea adventurers take on Togo in a must-win game.

Tomorrow (Saturday) from 6pm: Argentina v Mexico ko. 8pm
Rhythms Of Latin America @ Institute Of Contemporary Arts

Argentinian Dance, Brazilian folk and Mexican anguish as the team of the tournament stroll on.
Admission £10 - proceeds go to disadvantaged children in Ecuador

Sunday from 2pm: England v Ecuador ko. 4pm
Xbox Believe @ Old Truman Brewery

Lie back and think of England as they put us through the wringer for another ninety minutes.
Admission £10

I hope to see some but not all of you there, Allez Les Bleus!

2006-06-22T18:33:00.000+01:00

Czech Mate?

Czech Republic 0-2 Italy
Ghana 2-1 USA

With more Group E action than at a Motley Crue gig we saw Italy and Ghana emerge as the victors in the real "Group of death".

We attempted to watch the game in Bar Italia on Frith St but were clearly too late in departing as the Italians were already there in force and an edgy overflow crowd had been forced into watching from the street:

Instead we reverted to plan B a lovely Italian cafe called Linda's on Poland Street. Yet again they were amazingly friendly and helpful. Be it moving us closer to the big TV, lots of lovely food served before the game or a quick and steady supply of vino and Nastro Azzuro.

I felt Italy had their most impressive game yet in the competition, Gattuso was very solid and Materazzi and Pippo Inzaghi providing the goals - much to the delight of the Italian staff.

Perhaps the Czechs would have progressed further had they not chosen Tony Hart as a manager...?

Karel Bruckner  Tony Hart

It remains to be seen whether Italy can morph into a team capable of winning the competition but with that side of the draw full of easy teams they should at least reach the semis.

Ghana thankfully knocked out the USA in controversial circumstances but due to lacking the extra visual cortex necessary to watch both games simultaneously I can't comment further on that.

We're resting tonight in preparation for a trip to Bar des Magis in Clapham tomorrow.

Arrivederci,

Pooch

2006-06-22T01:44:00.000+01:00

De Hems - Wij houden van Oranje

Holland 0 - 0 Argentina
Ivory Coast 3 - 2 Serbia & Montenegro

Following yesterday's disappointment, our overseas friends continued to embarass us with their superior hospitality. The staff at De Hems were very helpful and our policy of getting there 6 hours before kick-off payed off this time, in contrast to yesterday's Crown and Two Chairmen debacle. We highly recommend De Hems. Here it is at 2pm:

...and here's De Hems at 6pm:

The game was good, considering a few big names had been dropped, though not amazing. Argentina seemed to have the best of it (shhhh) but were unable to prove it with a goal. I wouldn't be too surprised to see these two meet again in the final - it'd be nice to see them play again with the World Cup trophy at stake.

This game also included the highlight of my life so far, which I'm proud to share with you, blog-readers. Midway through the first half I had the good fortune to come across a long cylindrical Holland balloon. My good fortune continued when I discovered by accident that there was a hollow spot on the nearby wall and that hitting the balloon against it produced a satisfying and surprisingly loud noise. After some encouragement, I proceeded to beat out the appropriate rhythm (de de - de de de - de de de de - ...) and was proud to find the crowd shouting "Holl - and" at the appropriate point.

I led the Dutch in song. I can die happy. Here I am hitting the wall with the balloon - so happy that I've gone all blurred:

Special praise to Leah for standing outside in the queue for the whole of the first half - managing to get in at half time:

... (not to take anything away from me, Pooch, Dann and Arun who had been their since 2pm)...

And thanks to our new Dutch friends for explaining why the Dutch wear orange and what the letters on their shirts mean (explanations upon request). Here's a picture of the ugliest of our new friends:

The Ivory Coast, meanwhile, completed a very impressive World Cup campaign with a 3-2 victory over Serbia & Montengro, with a 3 goal come-back led by Dinedine Dindane. I assume that's his first name.

2006-06-22T01:31:00.000+01:00

Don't Shoot

Portugal 2 - 1 Mexico
Iran 1 - 1 Angola

Portugal and Mexico battled out a largely meaningless tie in surprisingly exciting style. There were a few minutes towards the end where another couple of goals might have meant Angola went through at the expense of Mexico (on goals scored) but it wasn't to be.

Mexico went some way towards vindicating my unswerving support by turning on the style in places. They passed the ball around attractively on the edge of the opposition box but were sadly too scared to shoot. It made me proud to (pretend to) be half-Mexican, but you have to wonder if they're on a no-shooting related bonus. Their first instinct on getting into the box was clearly "dive", not "shoot". Portugal were worthy winners but I'm still backing Mexico to come good.

Meanwhile, Iran did themselves proud by coming back from a goal down to grab a point against Angola, who can also be proud of themselves after adding this point to their point against Mexico.

2006-06-21T13:20:00.000+01:00

Disappointing

The Crown and Two Chairmen did indeed let us down badly. The constant fobbing off was the most annoying thing, along with the fact that they clearly only shut the bar so that their mates could have the good seats when they got there. Disappointing. So were England, but I don't really want to talk about that.

Off to De Hems now to try and get in ready for the Holland v Argentina game this evening. See you there.

2006-06-21T09:51:00.000+01:00

The Worst Pub In London

The Crown and Two Chairmen used to be a nice, unpretentious place. It had a big function room upstairs with a big screen where we've watched a few games before in a cracking knowledgeable atmosphere.

We were a little suprised when we arrived there on Tuesday at 2pm to find that it had become a sort of Gastropub but the function room and screen remained (abeit decorated in some post-modern way) and despite my misgivings we stayed for an afternoon and evening of football goodness. What a mistake...

Things started to go wrong when we noticed some signs saying that the upstairs bar would be closed between 5pm and 6pm "To prepare for the England game". Fair enough we thought but we didn't want to lose our prime viewing seats (we were the only ones there at that time) so we had a quick word with the barman and he said we could leave some of our posessions up there to indicate those seats were taken.

The Gremany(sic) match finished with the Ecuadorians "failing to turn up" as we put it, so we left our jackets and went downstairs to get some food until we were allowed back up again.

"Can we order some food?" we aksed - a reasonable enough question for this type of pub but the barman replied that the chef wasn't there and he wasn't sure what time he was in (even though food was available supposedly "all day"). Eventually we managed to get at 5.30pm ETA for the errant chef so we ordered some crisps and settled down to selecting fantasy England elevens.

5.30pm arrives so when get a round in I ask if the chef is here, "I'll find out" replies the ever helpful barman. He doesn't, he just serves some more customers. Meanwhile Dann checks upstairs to make sure our belongings are ok. They'd been moved into a neat little pile on a small chair - so much for saving our seats. The joyous time of 6pm arrives and with our numbers bolstered by some work colleagues of mine we head upstairs. The barman comes in to the upsatirs bar and shouts "I need you all downstairs until 7pm please". Uuurgh, am getting more and more irritated by this especially as the "setting up" seemed to amount to putting ashtrays on tables and a few ominous looking "Reserved" signs on some of the better seats.

At least when we returned downstairs we could finally order some food, the chef must work short hours because five minutes after I had managed to order my friends were told that the kitchen was closed. Dann is told by the barman that the bar manager is coming to talk to him about "the tables situation". Dann has a little conversation with her and is handed two green tickets, these guarantee us entry to the upstairs football bar. I point out to Dann that there are six of us and he manages to get a few more of this sought-after commodity.

The food eventually arrived and was ok but we had to wolf it down as we'd realised the green ticket didn't actually guarantee that much and a much better idea was to queue up on the stairs. Shortly before 7pm we see the VIPs being shepherded into the reserved seats and when the doors finally opened we managed to mostly get the seats we want.

What a crowd though, most of them didn't seem to know anything about football or England's standing in the group or the other World Cup games. The tossers in the VIP seats didn't seem to be even watching the game. In some ways they were like the Japanese crowd, I think they just wanted some event to go to and shout a bit and then go home afterwards.

So my advice is never go to the Crown and Two Chairmen on Dean St. for football, unless of course you like being fobbed off and told conflicting things about the viewing arrangements all day.

The match itself was the usual England fare, blood and bluster, an unfortunate injury to 25% of our strikeforce and the usual England fade-away in the second half.

On Sunday I'm going to a proper pub to watch the game, not somewhere in the centre where all the pubs seem to be "on the take", somewhere with proper football fans, somewhere where it means something to people. I'm disappointed that on all our travels the worst crowd and most unhelpful barstaff have been at the English venue, everywhere else we've received mostly accurate information and made to feel really welcome and that our custom means something.

To end on a positive note I give you this picture of the big man from yesterday's Guardian, enjoy:

2006-06-20T09:26:00.000+01:00

Viva Espana

Togo 0-2 Switzerland
Saudi Arabia 0-4 Ukraine
Spain 3-1 Tunisia

Greetings blog-fans! Joe's reign of blogging terror is at an end as I (Pooch) return to tell you about the delights of Bar Sol Ona where we watched the evening game with more Spaniards than a dyslexic dogs home.

The bar was on Old Compton St. next to Cafe Boheme and down some stairs, a lovely little place where we enjoyed a plentiful supply of Tapas (I particularly recommend the Octopus) and Rioja.

Our lovely waitress - the photo is not really adequate

Senoritas

Very good plasma TV

Arun is accosted by a Spaniard, the flag is of the Asturias region of Spain

There was a sizeable and knowledgeable Spanish contingent, they reflected their team and were pretty quiet in the first half but became more vocal as Spain equalised with a goal from Raul and Torres started to show glimpses of his amazing talent.

I feel terrible this morning but am really looking forward to the game tonight. We're off to the Crown and Two Chairmen on Dean St. - a proper English boozer which we hope will be packed to the rafters. Hopefully England will finally show their true potential and give Sweden a tonking but it will be most likely 0-0 bore draw.

Laters...

2006-06-19T11:45:00.000+01:00

Crazy Japanese

Japan 0 - 0 Croatia
Brazil 2 - 0 Australia
France 1 - 1 South Korea

Me, Pooch and Kev watched the Japan game in what used to be The Moon Under Water on Charing Cross Road. It's a Lloyds bar now and for the World Cup it's been converted into some sort of Japanese-food-serving-cum-big-screen-for-football-watching venue.

Despite paying £12 for a "VIP" pass, the service was a bit rubbish. It didn't seem to be possible to get food, despite there being a menu on the table, and it was quite difficult to get drinks.

The atmosphere was pretty special though. Every time anything happened, exciting or not, the Japanese fans that were crammed into the venue went absolutely mental, jumping up and down and screeching at ever increasing pitches.

In the picture below I'm not even sure anything of any note had happened. The crowd was just celebrating anyway.

The other exciting thing, from my point of view, was receiving my glass of sake in a square wooden box.

This experience really brought home to me why traditional drinking vessels are of circular cross-section. I discovered that my best bet was to try to drink from the corner of the box but even that was fraught with difficulties.

By the end of the match I had mastered the task, but I still have a suspicion that the Japanese staff were laughing at the stupid Englishman who was actually drinking out of the comedy wooden box.

We're off to a Spanish bar in Hanway St (Fitzrovia) tonight probably, or somewhere near there. See you all there.

2006-06-18T18:59:00.000+01:00

Handing Out Cards Like Confetti

Portugal 2 - 0 Iran
Czech Republic 0 - 2 Ghana
Italy 1 - 1 USA

We watched these games in Henry J Bean's in Camden. It was alright.

2006-06-17T17:26:00.000+01:00

Final Final Prediction

Having seen the teams I'm now ready to call the last match: Italy will beat France 5:3 in a penalty shoot-out. It will be 1:1 after 90 minutes and after overtime. Zidane deserves his red card. So now you know.

I'll be in AJ's Sports Bar (Florida) to see the US take on Italy at 3pm EST.

2006-06-17T08:02:00.000+01:00

Un gran día en Bethnal

As Joe said we had an excellent time at Rich Mix (The Tea Centre) and Green & Red. Word of warning though: Green & Red didn't open until 5.30pm so it's probably only good for the late games. I can thoroughly reccomend Rich Mix though.

Here's some more pictures:

The Screen at Rich Mix

Sat on the floor at Rich Mix

Green & Red - hard to spot the sign

Fu and Mike down Mexico way

Tequila!

Good time had by all

Has anyone got any tips for good hosting solutions for audio files? I've got a great mp3 snippet of some tuneful mexican singing.

Not sure what the plan for today is but I'm pretty sure we can't have as good a goal as we saw yesterday, or can we...?

2006-06-17T00:32:00.000+01:00

Awesome

Argentina 6 - 0 Serbia & Montengro
Holland 2 - 1 Ivory Coast
Mexico 0 - 0 Angola

Argentina were awesome. They looked impressive in their first game but this was even better. Serbia & Montenegro didn't put up as much resistance as you might expect but Argentina just took them apart. They even had to time to score THE best goal in history. Certainly the best team goal in World Cup history, which will hopefully mean I don't have to watch that Carlos Alberto goal every week anymore.

Holland v Cote D'Ivoire was nicely poised at half time but CIV didn't seem to want to go for it in the second half. We watched the game at The Tea Centre in Bethnal Green which was some crazy cinema-cum-cafe with a pretend pitch. Best use of lottery funding ever. The highlight was seeing Robben booked for diving.

The Mexico game was a bit of a disappointment. The bar ("Green & Red" at Bethnal Green) was pretty good, with plenty of Mexicans and a vast selection of tequilas. We lounged around on the sofas in front of the screen while the Mexicans all crowded round behind. You have to get there early.

Thankfully, the staff foresaw the dull game to come and entertained us by playing the commentary about three seconds before the visuals. If there had been any goals this would have been annoying, but as it was it enabled us to pretend we could see the future. No-one was fooled. We laughed.

2006-06-16T13:05:00.000+01:00

"It's Not About Robotic Dancing Anymore"

Peter Crouch proclaimed this before the World Cup even began but the full meaning of it only actually dawned on him with 7 minutes to go yesterday. Thank goodness. Within minutes Steven Gerrard had understood too and World Cup glory was on again.

Another great quote came from Leo Beenhakker, the Trinni, Dad & Toboggan coach:
"When they meet stronger and better teams they may have to show more patience. This is free advice - I will not ask money for it."

Such good advice for such a small charge.

Ecuador 3 - 0 Costa Rica
England 2 - 0 Trinidad & Tobasco
Sweden 1 - 0 Paraguay

Extending this pattern on, it is clear that the first game of today will be a 0 - 0 draw. I can't even imagine how the pattern would extend to the next match.

See you all later in "Green and Red" in Bethnal Green.

2006-06-16T12:54:00.000+01:00

Buenos Dias Gringos

Looks like we may be off to Green and Red in Bethnal Green tonight. They aren't taking reservation so get there early (Joe and I should be heading there for the middle game too).
Phone us for more information...

A couple more people are doing a similar thing to us. They seem a little more professional than us but I suspect they've missed more football (Joe aand I still have a 100% record):

World Cup In One City
StattoStatto

Adios Amigos,

Pooch
x

2006-06-15T23:34:00.000+01:00

Dann's Prediction League Update

Gav consolidates his lead at the top with two correct scores predicted and Simon Heather breaks away from the pack with ten points from today, the best performance in a day of games so far. The jostling for the places behind continues and anything could happen tomorrow so stayed tuned...

2006-06-15T19:26:00.000+01:00

Greetings from the top of the prediction league!

Laura and I saw England's woeful performance in a golf club. The first half was notable for the bambi-esque ineptitude of Crouch infront of goal. I had to get his photo from the BBC website as I couldn't make it to Nuremberg.

The smiles below was created by Crouch's headed goal, shortly before Gerard's left foot produced a stunning second.
England must have done something right to win the support of these notorious Frenchmen...

2006-06-15T11:13:00.000+01:00

A Little Culture

I penned this in one of my more artistic moments this morning:

Dunlop tyres, canal for t' mill, dreaming spires, penicillin pill.
Chavs in their Burberry caps, city bankers in their bowler hats.
Cups of tea and pots of jam, fried egg sandwiches, breaded ham.
M25 and British Rail, lobster suntan or woefully pale.
Forever may it stay grey or green, a better place I've never seen.

Now I'm off to get bladdered and watch the lads...

2006-06-15T00:22:00.000+01:00

Sharma's Superstars

Now that we've seen all the teams in action, and in the interest of encouraging debate (and by debate, I mean you better agree with me or else), I've decided to put forward my team of the tournament so far ... Sadly I've managed to see every game apart from Spain vs Ukraine, so I'd like to give an honourable mention to Alonso and Puyol, who looked good on the highlights but I didn't feel I'd seen enough of them - so they're cut. I've gone for a 3-4-3 formation (diamond in midfield).

GK: Boruc (Poland)
DEF: Ayala (Argentina), Ferdinand (England), Lahm (Gremany)
MID: Essien (Ghana) - Rosicky (Czech), Cahill (Australia) - Riquelme (Argentina)
ATT: Saviola (Argentina), Torres (Spain), Robben (Holland)

No great surprises sadly ... The only person I'd never really seen before was Lahm for the Gremans - impressed me a lot going forward. Also interesting that England's arch-rivals are the only team contributing more than one player ... What'dya think? If you disagree with my selections I'll use my famous ninja powers of hypnosis to persuade you to see the light ... as demonstrated in the photo.

2006-06-14T23:09:00.000+01:00

The Tunisian District

Spain 4 - 0 Ukraine
Tunisia 2 - 2 Saudi Arabia
Germany 1 - 0 Poland

Today me, Pooch and Denning took a trip to London's Tunisian district at Edgware Road. There was a (slightly) thriving Tunisian community as you might expect but, perhaps as a result of their no-drinking policy, there were no Tunisian bars. We had hoped for maybe a Tunisian cafe or the like but had no so such luck.

So, in the end we went to The Windsor (?). The patrons and staff were very friendly and the layout of the pub was such that it was a bit like watching the game in your own lounge - which makes you wonder why we went on a two hour round trip to Edgware Rd to watch the game on an inferior screen and pay for our drinks. That's commitment for you, though.

Denning had a couple of drinks and was therefore his usual larey self. Notice him threatening Pooch in this picture.

Kate Moss was there too, on her phone, as is evidenced by this photo.

I found Spain quite impressive today but we'll have to see what they're like against stiffer opposition - Ukraine weren't the side the media had led me to believe I'd see.

Tunisia and Saudi Arabia weren't great but they both gave it a good shot and entertained us increasinlgy towards the end of the game as the prediction league standings fluctuated one way and then the other as the late goals went in.

In the evening game I was left feeling very sorry for the Poles. They defended bravely, and largely well, for nintey minutes, only to let in the inevitable German goal in injury time. Poland aren't out yet but it's looking inevitable. Surely Germany aren't going to surprise everyone again? I can see them stumbling to the final again...

2006-06-14T13:05:00.000+01:00

Prediction League

Here's a word from the prediction league chief, Dann:

The table seems to have split into two sections with 3 points separating the top 9 people and the other 3 languishing over 10 points below that. After predicting a draw in the South Korea vs. Togo game, Arun is caught by Simon and Gav, with the rest of the field gaining ground.

The latest standings can be found in the side-bar.

2006-06-14T12:18:00.000+01:00

Eh Franca - Vaka Man Du!

That's what the Brazilians were chanting in Guanabara last night. I can only assume it means "Hey, France! Dash you all!"
It was an amzing atmosphere at Guanabara. I haven't seen anything like that for a while. As Pooch said, Brazil weren't great but the fans were amazing. For about an hour before kick-off there was dancing on stage, with a man doing fancy kick-ups, all to the backdrop of images from Brazil.

In the first few minutes of the game, Ronaldinho did a couple of nice things and the crowd just went mental. They calmed down a bit afterwards but I think that's a reflection of Brazil's relatively poor performance. It's a good job though, otherwise the crowd would definitely have exploded.

And here's a picture of one of the helpful barstaff - not taken for my benefit - merely to convince Arun and Dann that we need to go back there.

2006-06-14T09:28:00.000+01:00

Joga Bonito

South Korea 2 - 1 Togo
France 0 - 0 Switzerland
Brazil 1 - 0 Croatia

Well, they might not have played beautifully last night but they certainly watched it beautifully.

The day started chez-Pooch where Joe and I surged ahead of the competition by consolidating our 100% games-watched record. Unfortunately it was the worst game of the tournament, a shame the Togans couldn't beat the Koreans as they are dull - they play a bit like Japan on Valium.

As the game was ending the heavens opened, it was like a tropical thunderstorm (a portent for the Brazil game?), so we ordered a cab for the journey to Guanabara in Covent Garden (remarkably cheap at £10)

We got there at 4.30pm and that was a good time to make it, it wasn't too busy (the bar wasn't open yet) but there was a steady flow of yellow and green shirts. By 4.50pm the steady stream had turned into a surge to match the earlier rain and we had good positions in a sizeable queue to get a table in the bar. When the floodgates were opened we secured a table but only one with wet varnish on the benches and a poor view of the single giant screen. So, following the cool crowd, we sat on the floor. When La Marseillaise was played from the (very-)loudspeakers there was a massive chorus of boos from the Brazilians, I'd forgotten about France's robbery of their crown in the '98 final, they had clearly not.

That said, there was a sizeable French contingent:

As the game wore on and Switzerland pressured the French goal there was some shouting between the French and the more vocal Brazilians but it all passed peacefully and when the ref blew for full time the French left with an air of dejection.

On with the Samba beats, by now the place was rammed and our friends were giving up trying to get in with queues round the block. Joe and I gave up our limited floor-space to attempt to find a more comfortable standing vantage point. The crowd were being whipped up into a frenzy by a troupe of Brazilian dancers, a professional ball-juggler and a live Samba band:

The samba party was getting pretty frantic and Joe and I were worried that we weren't going to be able to see the screen (see lower picture). Things reached a crescendo during the Brazilian national anthem and then, as the players were about to kick-off the strangest thing happened: everyone just sat down on the floor. It was amazing to see and meant that most people could get a good view of the screen.

The game itself didn't live up to the expectations of the local crowd and the world. Ronaldinho had some occasional flashes of brilliance in the first half and there was Kaka's magnificent match-winner but not much else. The crowd at Guanabara went into a nervous quiet after about fifteen minutes and when the final whistle went there was a palpable sense of relief.

Joe and I squeezed our way out pretty quickly back into the seemingly unreal, damp English night. We had an interesting conversation on our way back:

1) I compared the Brazilian crowd to the English: they ram as many people as possible into a venue, play rousing tunes before the kick-off but I think that's where the similarity stops. Sure, we get nervous but when the chips are down during the game we generally get behind the team vocally. There didn't seem to be much of that from the Brazilians

2) I remain convinced we will win the FIFA world cup (anyone listening to Baddiel and Skinner's podcasts?). I know we didn't play well against Paraguay but I've not seen anyone I think we can't beat. The best team I've seen so far has been Argentina and we've proved we can beat them, we'd face tough tests against Brazil, Holland, Czech Republic and Brazil but none of these big teams has been tested in defence yet. With the big-man back, Owen a little sharper and the midfield more lively we can test anyone.

One more picture from Guanabara (best venue so far, we'll be back there often), I'm hoping Joe will put some photos of the gorgeous Brazilian women up later...

Pooch
xxx

2006-06-13T12:44:00.000+01:00

Great game last night. Finished at 1am for us in Brisbane. Everyone was pretty rough in the morning to work. Drank a lot of Castlemaine XXXX. Brazil should be a breeze so I guess the final will be England V Socceroos and we know what happened last time those two met?

2006-06-13T08:48:00.000+01:00

Aussies Rule /Rock The Calabash

Another scorching day in London and another three quality games of football:

Australia 3 - 1 Japan
USA 0 - 3 Czech Republic
Italy 2 - 0 Ghana

Things were looking up for the aussie game as I found there was a walkabout 5min away from
the Czech and Slovak club in West Hampstead. Too good to be true?

Of course it was! The Czech and Slovak club was closed on Mondays (as was the Czech centre, what is this th Czech sabbath?) so we had to revert to plan B. At least we had a planB though - Sven take note.

So instead we hotfooted it to Belushis at London Bridge which is below a youth hostel and should have been full of our Antipodean cousins. It turned out great, there was a good atmosphere from the Aussie crowd, massive burgers with Beetroot and egg on them and genuine Victoria Bitter:

I don't actually like it that much but thought it would be more authentic! The game itself was very good, high paced good passing and just a touch of physicality. Japan put together some great passing moves in midfield but only threatened occasionally up-front. For the Aussies Cahill and Aloisi scored some crackers and Viduka played much better than I've seen him generally play.

We rushed back in the energy-sapping heat to base camp to watch the Czechs who were also very impressive. Rosicky seems like he can hit a ball well(!) and should be entertaining for the Premiership but it was old Nedved who was pulling most of the strings. They were comfortable winners against an organised USA side but I have a feeling they're going to struggle against a team with more of a cutting edge.

As soon as the final whistle blew it was out of the flat and I set us a frightening pace to make it to Covent Garden to watch the Ghana game at the Africa Bar. Mike had gone on ahead an when we finally made it to Waterloo he had some poor news for us: "The hall is closed for a board meeting, the would be showing all the other games though. There is a restaurant and they've said they'll show it, they've only got one small TV though".

I was undettered, this was just the sort of venue I was looking forward to and though I could sense some doubts in the group we continued on. When we arrived there Mike was trying to keep our hopes down. The television was small and the tables were miles away from it. Furthermore there were no Ghana supporters in there at all, in fact there were no Africans (except the staff) and few other customers.

We couldn't have hoped for friendlier and more helpful staff though, they moved out table close to the TV and perched the TV up on top of two tables:

Mike is using his head there to give a sense of scale. The match was pretty good, Italy were a bit nervy until they scored. Ghana played some attractive football but seemed to want to walk it into the goal at times. This seems to be a common theme among the emerging nations and while I applaud it for the purposes of defeating Arun at the top of the prediction league I sometimes wish they'd just hoof it into the box.

The food and drink was also noteworthy, here's Mike's fish:

The rest of us had Groundnut Stew, Joe had battered Yams as a side and we finished it off with some great deserts.

The beer was pretty decent too:
(I can only assume it's made of Tusks)

All joking aside I had an amazing time here, it's the Calabash restaurant in the basement of the Africa Centre, Covent Garden - I can't reccomend it enough if you want food that's a little different and friendly staff.

After an overnight monsoon it's heating up again as we prepare to head to Guanabara to watch the champions play, should be good,

Much Love,

Pooch
x

2006-06-12T20:30:00.000+01:00

Greetings from the US!

The US-ians were defeated by a strong Czech performance. This was the "Battle of the Buds" and it was clear that the beer (Budvar) beat the water (Budweiser). We were watching in a Sports Bar called AJ's where local students were following their home side. The photo below was an attempt to capture some of the 300 million TV screens from which the bar is built.

2006-06-12T11:53:00.000+01:00

Day 4 In the World Cup House

Serbia and Montenegro 0 - 1 Holland
Mexico 3 - 1 Iran
Angola 0 - 1 Portugal

Football was the winner on Day 3.

Iran probably deserved more against Mexico but fell apart a bit at the end, bless them. I was a bit disappointed with Mexico as I've been bigging them up for months, but they didn't really do much of any note.

It was also good to see Holland and Portugal struggling in the second half and scraping 1-0 wins. It makes me think maybe England are doing something right.

The other highlight was Kev winning a pound by betting with 15 minutes to go in the Mexico v Iran game that one of the players would put their hands together and look to the sky in a praying gesture. You have to wonder if he'd paid one of the players off.

Me, Pooch and Denning are off to Belushi's at London Bridge now (an Australian bar) for the Australia v Japan game. See you there. If Denning is to be believed, you'll be able to recognise us as one of us will have red hair.

2006-06-12T04:29:00.000+01:00

Greetings from Florida!

Laura and I had to be out on the town at 9am to see the England game. The Irish bar we were in soon filled up with supporters of Sven's men, and the photo below captures the atmosphere well. Later we supported 10-man Trinidad 'n' Tobago as Shaka Hislop earned a point for them in their first World Cup game.

I'm not aware of any bars here operated by Argentinians, or people from the Ivory Coast (Ivory Coastians?). We saw their game in the local airport bar as a friend of ours was flying out for good. This seemed appropiate as I'm sure we could have got a flight to either country had we wanted to.

Today we saw Mexico convincingly beat Iran in a Mexican restaurant. We were supporting Mexico because we wanted to see the staff happy. However, in retrospect, my vocal support of the Mexicans would surely have been understood to be hatred of Iran by the locals: They would have assumed I was a redneck :(

2006-06-10T23:26:00.000+01:00

Same Old England

England 1 - 0 Paraguay
Trinidad & Tobago 0 - 0 Sweden
Argentina 2 - 1 Ivory Coast

Sven seemed to make exactly the same mistakes he always makes and England played the same way we've been playing for the last eight years, going a goal up early on and then sitting back inviting the opposition to score... Let's blame it on the heat this time and hope it doesn't happen again.

Other than England, I was particularly impressed by Argentina. I wasn't impressed by the diving, but some of Argentina's one-touch passing was pretty special. They look to be the most dangerous so far by quite a way.

Today's venue was the big screen at Joe and Denning's house and much fun was had by all. I think. The total attendance was an astonishing 22, roughly, with special guest appearances from Kev "Flamin Eck" Wilson and Colin "Colin" Nosworthy. Home made bread was consumed, along with specially baked cake and much pizza and curry. At first we thought Pooch had "accidentally" eaten my naan (not my nan) but then it became apparent that he'd only "accidentally" forgotten to order it. The shit.

Here's a picture of some of us celebrating the goal - as it happened. We always watch football like this.

The flat's a mess now - more so - but if I go to bed it might be cleared up by the time I next go in the lounge.

2006-06-10T10:23:00.000+01:00

Opening Night

phew, am knackered. The opening games, after a shaky start, turned out great:

Gremany 4 - Costa Rica 2

We escaped work at 4.45pm to watch this at O'Neills on Carnaby St. When we turned up we found the dreaded "Reserved" signs plastered all over the best tables. I think this is pretty shit, tables should be allocated on a first come - first served basis, if people can't be bothered to get out of work early then they don't deserve a table. So to "Chris" who had a table booked for 4.30pm but clearly had better things to do, you're a spanner.

Anyway, to the game. Thought the Gremans were very good in possession, didn't do anything fancy but kept the ball well. Everyone thought their fourth goal was amazing but I thought it was a bit of a fluke, he just smashed his foot across the ball and it happened to swerve the right way for him.

Final Score: Gremany 4 - O' Neills Carnaby St 0

Poland 0 - Ecuador 2

We then walked on to Holborn to try and find a place for the Poland v Ecuador game, the idea was to head to Na Zdrowie but when we arrived there they weren't showing the game and honestly, I've seen more poles in a disused fire station. Instead, we headed over the road to The Ship Tavern which was awesome - they had saanwiches in cling film at the bar, free nibbles on the tables and a really nice plasma screen which berks didn't stand right in front of like at O'Neills. Our suspicion was that it would be a refuge for Poles from across the road but when Ecaudor scored it turned out we were in a hotbed of the London Ecuadorian community.

It was a bit of a suprising result to me, certainly based on the first half, Poland had much more of the ball it seemed but could do nothing in the final third. They hit the woodwork twice later on though and if those had gone in it would have been a fairer reflection.

Not many photos from last night as I forgot to chaarge my camera batteries, here's one of Kev gaying up Mike at O'Neills:

On the whole I don't think any of Costa Rica, Poland or Ecuador would pose many problems for us if we get through. The Gremans would be another story and until "The Big Man" is more match-fit we'd want to avoid the more decent teams. Right, I might get some food in the belly before the main event starts, awesome.

Pooch
x

2006-06-09T09:57:00.000+01:00

It's Here

Finally the World Cup is upon us. Almost. By 3.45pm tomorrow the excitement will probably have turned into disappointment and frustration again but for now all is well...

I did a quick simulation of the England v Paraguay game on PES4, only to discover that Paraguay win 3-0. This is either a bad omen or an indication that I'm not very good at PES. I should have played as Paraguay.

2006-06-06T13:22:00.000+01:00

Here we go, here we go, here we go

Here's my suggested itinerary for the group stages:
(I'll make them all links later, for now, look at the links on the right-hand-side)

11 June
1400: Serbia & Montenegro v Netherlands
1700: Mexico v Iran
2000: Angola v Portugal

12 June
1400: Australia v Japan
1700: USA v Czech Republic Bar Czech (West Hamp)
2000: Italy v Ghana Manjaro Bar (Holloway Road)

13 June
1400: South Korea v Togo
1700: France v Switzerland
2000: Brazil v Croatia Guanabara (Tottm Court Road)

14 June
1400: Spain v Ukraine
1700: Tunisia v S Arabia
2000: Germany v Poland Bavarian Beerhouse (Old St.)

Thursday 15 June
1400: Ecuador v Costa Rica
1700: England v Trinidad & Tobago Arun's flat (Rotherhithe)
2000: Sweden v Paraguay

Friday 16 June
1400: Argentina v Serbia & Montenegro
1700: Netherlands v Ivory Coast
2000: Mexico v Angola Bar Rio (TBC) (Battersea)

Saturday 17 June
1400: Portugal v Iran
1700: Czech Republic v Ghana
2000: Italy v USA Guanabara, 'cause we love it (Covent Garden)

Sunday 18 June
1400: Japan v Croatia Montagu Pyke - www.logosgate.com (Leics Sq)
1700: Brazil v Australia
2000: France v South Korea Bar des Magis (Clap Junction)

Monday 19 June
1400: Togo v Switzerland Africa Bar (Covent Garden)
1700 S Arabia v Ukraine
2000: Spain v Tunisia

Tuesday 20 June
1500: Ecuador v Germany/Costa Rica v Poland
2000: Paraguay v T'dad & Tobago/Sweden v England

Wednesday 21 June
1500: Iran v Angola/Portugal v Mexico
2000: Netherlands v Argentina/I Coast v Serbia & M De Hems (Leic Sq)

Thursday 22 June
1500: Czech Republic v Italy/Ghana v USA
2000: Japan v Brazil/Croatia v Australia

Friday 23 June
1500: Ukraine v Tunisia/S Arabia v Spain
2000: Togo v France/Switzerland v S Korea

Please check with us on the day or the day before if you are considering joining us. For the final group games we'll have to wait and see which matched the TV schedulers pick (I think Holland v Argentina is a pretty safe bet though!)

Pooch

2006-06-05T20:23:00.000+01:00

Anticipation is building in the Pooch household as the tournament draws closer.

Before the things start I've been looking out for any good wagers, one thing that's grabbed my attention are the odds for the golden boot:

Ronaldo 10/1
Adriano 11/1
Ronaldinho 12/1
Thierry Henry 12/1
Michael Owen 14/1
Ruud van Nistelrooy 14/1
Luca Toni 18/1
Hernan Crespo 20/1
Miroslav Klose 20/1
Andriy Shevchenko 25/1

Of particular note here is Luca Toni, the Italian striker. He's been the top-scorer in Serie A this season playing for Fiorentina with thirty-odd goals and is playing up front with the likes of Totti and Inzaghi. You might be able to get 20/1 or thereabouts at Betfair.

Also I've been having a think about what are the standout games from the first-round:

Monday 12th June - Italy v Ghana - Ghana are no mugs and the Italians always start slowly
Sunday 18th June - Brazil v Australia - I think Australia could give Brazil a bit of a physical test
Tuesday 20th June - England v Sweden - Could be interesting if we're both trying to avoid the Gremans
Wednesday 21st June - Holland v Argentina - Two very good sides, should be an even contest

In other news I've signed up an exclusive surprise correspondent from the States (United) to give an American perspective

Tomorrow I hope to finally upload the itinerary of games we will be watching. Stay tuned...

Welcome

2006-05-27T11:41:00.000+01:00

Hello and welcome to WorldCupPubCrawl,

this will hopefully provide a fascinating and yet humourous account of a group
of "friends" attempting to watch as many world cup games as possible while:

Visiting as many London pubs / bars / cafes with a connection to the participating countries as possible
Avoiding the wrath of our girlfriends / fiancees / Alan
Avoiding the need for serious medical attention

I'm Pooch and I'll be your intrepid guide to proceedings (think of Uncle Travelling Matt from Fraggle Rock) so firstly I should introduce the other characters:

Arun

Bio
From Northern-Ireland and therefore with no interest in the competition (though he secretly supports England) his main pupose is to antagonise the rest of us especially Denning

Likes
Getting the mac on with the ladies

Dislikes
Denning's projection television

Most likely to say
"How's the crack man?"

Joe

Bio
Born into a plastics dynasty Joe is the posh figurehead of our group. He lives with Denning but it's just to save on the rent and heating.

Likes
Louise, Kate Moss, Gin and Tonic

Dislikes
Owen Hargreaves (goes without saying really)

Most likely to say
"Get-in!"

Fu

Bio
Greek playboy, lawyer and historian. Due to the failure to qualify of his home country he'll be supporting Switzerland this time. Marrying the lovely Marcher in August

Likes
Iskender, Efes, Everton

Dislikes
Joff, one-touch football

Most likely to say
"I thought they'd never leave"

Pooch

Bio
Repressed homophobe and middle-class wannabe, Pooch is the madcap ideas machine of the group.

Likes
Byrne, Manchester United, Ale, Rooney

Dislikes
Dogs, wasps, fire, snakes, heights, cats, hot things, eating after 8pm

Most Likely To Say
"Byrne!"

Denning

Bio
The man with three teams and deserved whipping boy of the group (not literally). Will be desperately trying to balance the world cup with World of Warcraft, World Wrestling Federation and World of Warcraft (so much so I mentioned it twice).

Likes
Arsenal FC, Southampton FC, Eastleigh FC

Dislikes
Beer, sunlight

Most Likely To Say
"Howdy Howdy"

Meado

Bio
Rhythmic tapping noises are most likely to be heaard coming from Alex's corner of the room, this won't be due to his affection for Carrick and Lennon but his obsessive drumming.

Likes
Darts, Snooker, oh, and Tottenham

Dislikes
The Marriott Hotel, West India Quay

Most Likely To Say
"Gold"

Dann

Bio
Dann is the one of us who actually IS very good at football. If Rooney hadn't been fit (at the time of writing), Dann would have been the perfect replacement.

Likes
Chopping his food up into small pieces, Steve

Dislikes
Insects, sleeping

Most Likely To Say
"Why don't we liven it up by taking off an item of clothing every time you lose?"

Kev

Bio
Although it looks like the dimensions of this picture are wrong, Kev actually is this wide.

Likes
West Ham, pushing the boundaries of socially acceptable converations

Dislikes
Eating outside, Denning, Adam

Most Likely To Say
"That happened to my nan once"

Mike

Bio
You need to be careful round Mike. He seems like a nice guy but if Nina's away things change. This picture was taken by the police after one such incident. Don't mess.

Likes
Nina, Maths, steak, eating outside

Dislikes
Nuts

Most Likely To Say
"This whole thing was my idea"