World Cup/New York: Dispatch 2 🇰🇷🇯🇵🇦🇹🇭🇷🇨🇴
More country-specific watch parties: Sapporos at midnight, salsa on Steinway, and the World Cup of Wine!!
To celebrate both the World Cup and the diversity of New York City, I’ve been on a mission to attend as many country-specific watch parties as possible. As of press time I’m at 20 of 48, with a goal of reaching 24 teams. There were a lot of countries I wasn’t able to get to before their elimination; I especially regret missing out on Haiti, New Zealand, Scotland, and Uzbekistan.
My first dispatch covered the first six countries I saw: Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, Algeria, DR Congo, and England. The win-draw-loss of those games was 1-4-1 which isn’t too bad given the teams involved.
This post covers the next six, which takes us through Matchday 2: South Korea, Japan, Austria, Croatia, and Colombia. My record at this point is 4-6-1. I’ve got some catching up to do with these dispatches since we’re now in the Round of 32! Since I’m pretty behind, this one will be free to all readers. There’s a lot of photos so your email client may cut this one off.
A quick movie-related note: last weekend saw the streaming release of Skin of Youth via Film Movement Plus. Set in 1990s Saigon, the film follows the tumultuous relationship between a transgender cabaret singer and a prizefighter scraping together his earnings to help his partner afford gender-affirming surgery. I was really entranced by Ash Mayfair’s debut film The Third Wife so it was disappointing that her follow-up left me wanting. I reviewed the film during last year’s New York Asian Film Festival; you can read it here.
#7: South Korea 🇰🇷
Date: Thursday, June 18
Location: Orion Bar (Bushwick)
Versus: Mexico 🇲🇽
Result: 0-1 Loss
Combine the Mexico-Korea friendship with a prime 9 PM timeslot and you get one of the marquee matchups of the group stage. I went to Orion Bar because Eric had his first shift there that night and I figured that being so far from Ktown would mean it wouldn’t get too full.
I was dead wrong. Canada was still in the middle of their beatdown of Qatar when I arrived and it was already standing room only! I started my night by scarfing down a kimchi patty melt and knocking back the El Diablo cocktail. Made with tequila, mezcal, and soju, it was an appropriate fusion.
By the time the game began, the crowd had spilled into the sidewalk. Fortunately I had a prime view of both the projector screen and Eric opening endless Terras and dispensing countless frozies. Perhaps a third of the audience were cheering for Mexico and the cross-cultural camaraderie remained strong, even if there was a bit of competition. There was a showdown between “Olé, olé olé olé!” and “Dae-Han-Min-Guk!” Someone brought a vuvuzela. During one of the hydration/commercial breaks, I started a chant of my own: “Fuck you FIFA! (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap)” and everyone in the bar joined in. I’ve always wanted to do that.
Mexico prevailed over Korea, who did not look particularly inspiring1. Despite (or because of) this, the bar notched their highest one-day sales volume of all time. They didn’t run out of soju but they did run out of beer.
Bonus: The World Cup of Wine
Date: Friday, June 19
Location: My apartment
Matches screened: Scotland 🏴 vs. Morocco 🇲🇦 / Brazil 🇧🇷 vs. Haiti 🇭🇹 / Türkiye 🇹🇷 vs. Paraguay 🇵🇾
Every month I host an informal wine club. Everyone brings a bottle matching the month’s theme and then we drink. I’m always looking to synergize my hobbies so I tasked my friends to bring wine from any country participating in this year’s World Cup.
They really delivered, with many reaching into more obscure countries. We drank: Croatian pét-nat, Bosnian red from an indigenous grape (who knew they made wine in Bosnia?), reliable vinho verde, grapefruit-scented German Scheurebe, nigori sake, Belgian lambic (it’s not dissimilar from wine!), jammy white from California, very natty Czech, elegant Tschida from Austria. We closed out with Canadian ice wine (rare!), and small sips of port from Graham’s. My own pick, a premier cru Champagne, ended up being the most “basic.”
I also made a dish from four of the countries playing that night.
Brazil: Pão de Queijo
I had a handful leftover from my Oscars party. Big love for frozen pão de queijo.
Haiti: Epis Braised Beef Short Ribs
A pint of epis had been hanging out in the freezer for some time and this was a terrific way to use it.
Morocco: Loubia (White Bean and Tomato Stew)
Simple and hearty. I used Rancho Gordo Alubia Bianca beans.
Scotland: Cranachan (Scottish Whipped Cream With Whisky, Raspberries, and Toasted Oats)
This wasn’t really up to my taste, or anyone’s really, but perhaps choosing Laphroaig to whip into the cream was a bad move.
Throughout the tasting, we pour a bit of each bottle into a cup on the table, and take a shot of the “cuvée” at the very end. We dubbed it the Pitbull “Mr. Worldwide” cuvée and it was oddly not terrible, though the sake really made its presence known. Perhaps this mélange was the real World Cup.
#8: Japan 🇯🇵
Date: Saturday, June 20
Location: Katabaru (Williamsburg)
Versus: Tunisia 🇹🇳
Result: 4-0 Win
Who goes to a bar at midnight to watch Japan play Tunisia? 50-plus diehard supporters of Samurai Blue, as well as Japan-curious night owls like yours truly. People usually talk over the national anthems but not so here—there was reverent silence while “Kimigayo” played. That was as quiet as it got during the match. The night was long but the energy was high in this usually tranquil cocktail bar. Despite the hour, this group was among the most passionate and attentive I’ve encountered. We even did the wave a few times.
On the drinks menu: Tomi’s Margarita, named after star defender Takehiro Tomiyasu. A spirulina-infused tequila was shaken with sudaichi juice and agave syrup for this glistening blue riff on the Tommy’s Marg. They also had $6 Sapporo drafts, so I had a couple of those too.
During the second half I was getting very drowsy—it was past 1 AM and I had been drinking consistently all night—but I woke up again after Japan’s third goal. Ganbare!
#9: Austria 🇦🇹
Date: Monday, June 22
Location: German House of Soccer (Chelsea)
Versus: Argentina 🇦🇷
Result: 0-2 Loss
Yes, the venue is called the German House of Soccer, but the Austrian Cultural Forum participated in this particular event. (The neighboring nations have a storied history of collaboration, on the pitch and off.) Confirming my stereotypes of the German people, this venue was very clean and organized. There was a prize wheel and I won a pair of socks! It’s like a biergarten was set up in a car dealership; that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Given the lunchtime period, the attendees appeared to be fellow white collar workers taking an extended break, with many slipping on a red jersey on their way out of the office. Many of the women were wearing red maxi skirts. A choir from the German International School preceded the match, which wound up being a loss to Argentina. This was the game where Messi broke the record for all-time goals scored in the World Cup. I was in one of the only places in the city that did not cheer for this.
#10: Croatia 🇭🇷
Date: Tuesday, June 23
Location: Rudar Club (Astoria)
Versus: Panama 🇵🇦
Result: 1-0 Win
Red checkerboard patterns are inescapable in Rudar Club, a cozy and family friendly restaurant that functions almost like a social club for the Croatian community in Astoria. While people chatted in a mix of Croatian and New Yawk English before the match, I sipped on a Zlatni Medvjed pilsner and wolfed down a plate of ćevapi. There was lots of frustration with this squad—a lot of people around me said the manager is incompetent—but the team eked out a win regardless. Ultimately it doesn’t matter how you do it: there was plenty of singing and chanting after full time. It was still going strong by the time I had to leave for my next watch party of the night.
#11: Colombia 🇨🇴
Date: Tuesday, June 23
Location: Ritmos 60 (Astoria)
Versus: DR Congo 🇨🇩
Result: 1-0 Win
Right around the corner from Rudar Club is a Latino stretch of Steinway Street. That’s where I met up with John Carlo, who is Colombian, and his partner. After putting on the impressively real-looking bootleg jersey that he brought for me, we tried to go to our first-choice venue. It was full so we went two doors down to a salsa club. There was a $20 cover charge ($10 for girls), which was unavoidable in these parts.
Fine by me—up to this point, it was by far the most fun I had at a watch party. (Margaritas and Coronas helped.) A DJ played air horns and other sound effects during the game. During breaks in the action he’d play cumbia and reggaeton and everyone would dance. It was loud as fuck. Someone asked John Carlo (in Spanish) if I was his “chino.” “No,” he replied. “Él es mi vietnamita.” People would see me in my Colombia shirt and give a high-five. It helped that the game was intense, with tons of opportunities for Colombia but only one that would ultimately convert. I can’t believe I waited this long to go to a Latin fútbol party.
After post-win celebratory dancing, we went to Mama’s Empanadas a few doors away. Colombian empanadas, I learned, use non-nixtamalized corn which results in a crispier shell.
Next up: closing out the group stage with 🇧🇷🇲🇽🇸🇳🇨🇻🇮🇷
This would be an omen for their eventual elimination, a shock so great that a government investigation has been promised.