CLOSE

Football fans from England flock to the British pub of Ye Olde King's Head in Santa Monica a few hours before the kickoff of the semifinal of the 2018 World Cup.
USA TODAY HUI Sports

Fans of England watching the World Cup at Ye Olde King's Head in Santa Monica, California. (Photo: Sandy Hooper, USA TODAY & # 39; HUI) [19659006] SANTA MONICA, California – If you were to ask me to describe the pub Ye Olde King's Head Wednesday morning, I would tell you that it was the perfect and insolent place to watch the semifinal between England and Croatia.

Why? He serves beer when he opens at 9 pm PT, plays World Cup songs before the start of the match and it's a comfortable space where no one worries about a pint reversed.

But if you were talking to me about the same pub Wednesday afternoon, I'd say it was a dark dungeon, burning and depressing with tears and gooey floors.

King's Head, the famous Santa Monica pub, which is home to the Brits and fans of the Los Angeles World Cup, has become the host of England (1 -0) and lost 2-1 in overtime. It's one of the many bars in America that caters to a largely English crowd. Their clients will not necessarily invite an IKEA into sports celebrations, but they will go surfing at the bar (as was the case at King's Head before) or sing "God Save the Queen" while brandishing a replica of the World Cup in a Freddie Mercury mask (as happened in the Brooklyn Bar Banter). And even if the US is not in the World Cup this year, the lines to enter these pubs can hit the block, the bar can reach the capacity and a day rich in games can bring three different waves of fans. As Raul Dourado, the bartender of King's Head explains: "It's great, it's a crazy affair!"

But it's less awesome when l & rsquo; England is lost … Here's what happened on Wednesday at King's Head when Croatia upset the guys

9:30 The fighting songs begin

After the fans have entered and the bar easily reaches the capacity (with the waiting staff adding velvet ropes to make sure they have a way to and from the bar The list of songs from King's Head includes the following songs: "Vindaloo", "This Is England" Clash, "Always Look at the Bright Side of Life" by Monty Python and "Tubthumping (I Get Knocked Down) "of Chumbawamba. As London Rupert Wilson explains, the song was at first a joke because fans had no hope of reaching the finals of the World Cup. , the catchy song became a serious rallying cry with Eng

Another tip of Wilson: Do not pronounce the "H" in "Home" when you sing it

10:45 am Another hurray before you start.

The crowd begins a double, triple, quadruple-clap "England!" Chant. Everyone gets up, and many people stay up. (Places are quite limited.)

I notice that there are a few people at the bar who have not stood in line. How did they come in? "Give a tip to your bartenders" someone who was left in a side door tells me. "The last time we had a $ 300 tab, because we are English."

The game is about to start and already the bartender Raul Dourado is tired. "It's my last world cup," he jokes. The matches of England are particularly good business, because fans drink early and often. "If Brazil played, we would serve a lot of water."

11:05 GOAL!

Here is what that goal looked like #ENG inside an authentic pub (in Los Angeles) ? #worldcup #ENGCRO # Kingshead Then things took a turn pic.twitter.com/GQd1HPhEed

– Carly Mallenbaum (@ThatGirlCarly) 11 July 2018

Only a few minutes and already Kieran Trippier mark on a free kick. The screams are loud, the jumps are high, the fists are pumped and the songs are "Olé, Olé, Olé!" Followed, of course, by "Football's Comin 'Home."

11:36

The excitement of the first goal is long gone, supporters are worried about retaliation. "They missed three shots!", Repeats a beefy guy, then corrects himself: "They missed four!" The Irish guy next to me starts to roll a cigarette.

11:47 am at half-time

There are cries of relief for the end of half followed by a mbadive exodus to the bathroom. I ask people if they skip the work to see this midday game. "I took off three weeks of work for the World Cup," says one woman. "I called sick," says another. "I exchanged changes with someone," says a man. Some other spectators travel, are unemployed or do not work today. After all, that is Los Angeles.

1:10 pm Everyone is still stressed.

A white-haired man in an English scarf seems about to cry before swearing in front of the screen. A disgruntled fan can not find a decent path to the bathroom. "Can I go pee it?" He asks loudly. Someone tries to lighten the mood with an acclaim: "COME, ENGLAND," he says with an almost Cockney accent. Someone accidentally turns on the music

In a bizarre move, an employee seems to accidentally play random pop music that has nothing to do with the game. The participants boo the music and get on with it. realize, what, wait, did Croatia just mark? Croatia just scored ?! The bar is calm. The waitresses are frozen on the match. The bartender Raul keeps looking at the screen and caressing his beard.

1:38 PM Croatia scores again. Tears come. It's over.

It's calm. A man puts his head in his hands and holds it there for a minute. The place clears up quickly. There are tears and sad cuddles. Fans are coming out of the once bustling pub, which has become a moist room with not enough windows, and is getting ready for the hot sun. People do not want to talk. They are angry. At least nobody fights. Someone makes fun of the fact that I ask questions and says sarcastically that he will go home and eat "crumpets and tea".

But Romero, the woman with the flag, is kind. After sitting in silence for a few minutes, she speaks: "Being here, among all those English, in Los Angeles, so far from home, it's magical," she says, still looking towards the TV screen. "All those Englishmen who care as much as I do, you do not get it at any other time but when is the World Cup."

Read or Share this Story: https://usat.ly/2upsoB2[19659037] [ad_2]
Source link