Senegal would have been a much worthier opponent.
FRANCE FIELD REPORT: Atmosphere Mar Vista is a very Euro cafĂ©/wine sippery, with boho worn tables/chairs and mismatched pillows. I think thatâs an intentional chic. A calm but charged crowd of 25 Frenchies is here to see their team on the venueâs sole monitor. All the males sure have short, trim hair.
The chef didnât get here till 8:10am, which was a peeve for me; as Iâd planned on leaving before then, at halftime (7:50am). Reason for that is that the agony and heartache of defeat on the part of the loser is unbearable to see, in these hairsplitting games. There are no second chances at this stage. They lose, theyâre out.
But, I hung in there (had to, to eat), and got the chive/gruyĂšre/French ham omelet; which came with sides of cubed skin-on homefries, dressed baby greens, raspberry preserves, and char-grilled sourdough. Overall it was goodness, though there shouldâve been more cheese in the omelet. The rest of the menu here is varied and well-constructed. Iâd definitely come back, to try the artful-looking soups, salads, sandwiches. But then, Iâm half French, so itâs in my DNA⊠:pđ„
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Hey Attran,
Did you stop by Portugal Imports during todayâs game?
Cousteau
Sorry, @Cousteau. Iâm out of town for the weekend. Caught the end of the matches today inside Vegas casinos whilst hanging out with friendsâŠwon some $ on some fun bets, too.
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As you know, it was The End for Portugal.
Uruguay has not lost yet! They may take the whole thing!!
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That was stunning. Also, I just lost $200. 
Bookwich! What went south? 
Oh, just betting with my heart instead of my head. 
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Thatâs actually taking the high road, Bookwich! Bless u. 
SPAIN UPDATE: Field report wonât happen. Spain was eliminated today in a surprise, upset loss to Russia. AdiosâŠ
This match cost me $ in Vegas. But what an exciting match for the host country!
DENMARK FIELD REPORT: This would be pretty much the same as for Iceland in this thread from June 22, above, as itâs the same venue. The only further bit of info is that the gal running Olsonâs said that ânobodyâ had shown up to see Denmark there so far. Thatâs all she wrote for the Danes, as they were knocked out today in a hairsplitting, overtime match.
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I would have bet for the Spaniards too, Attran. Thatâs how the World Cup is: full of surprise, against-the-odds outcomes. Anyone can win!
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Fixed. Itâs FIFA, and itâs happening in Putin-land.
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CROATIA FIELD REPORT #2: Croatian American Hall is your basic 1950s rectangular-shaped multipurpose facility. Just past the small foyer there is a bar (featuring $5 Karlovacko brews); with doorway into the main room. There is also a patio area. Capacity posted is 250, but donât tell the fire dept. because there were easily more people there than that. The main roomâs bloc of folding chairs plus some tables on each side held 250; there were easily another 100 persons standing in the back. About 80 more were in the bar and patio. All in all over 400 Croatia fans came out to San Pedro, CA to cheer on their team. They were pretty noisy during the game, too; some cultures are, while other cultures (Mexico, Iran) take on a hush during the play.
Before things got underway, it was communicated that food would be served only during halftime. Halftime is a mere 15 minutes to serve potentially 400. After the huge-foodline disaster that transpired at St. Anthonyâs Croatian Church Parish Hall (ref. prior field report), were we up for round 2 of such amateurishness?
No. Any such problem was wisely headed off at the pass, by a system of dinersâ buying their meal tickets prior to halftime; which during halftime were presented at the kitchen window. Promptly handed out the window was a pre-made complete plate, ready-to-go. This way the line moved quickly, and was only about 20-25 persons deep. In fairness, I will say that not everyone in attendance wanted to eat. The food wasnât that good.
The plate consisted of a regular American, non-ethnic smoky/sweet cased sausage link; a plain chunk of baguette-ish bread; and a Croatian version of mostaccioli. Unlike the Croatian mostaccioli I saw at St. Anthonyâs, which had a redsauce, this pasta was mixed with ample ground beef crumbles having a few tiny cuts of either carrots or orange bell peppers, and occasional tiny flecks of something green, probably Italian parsley. Liquid factor in the sauce consisted only of rendered grease from the hamburger, and probably H2O clinging from the pasta cooking water. The carrots/bell peppers and parsley were so long-cooked that they were practically mush and flavor wiped out. The ground beef tasted unseasoned. The dish was truly bland. Even Hamburger Helper has more seasoning than this. They could have at least put some salt & pepper into the making. There was optional grated Parm available, though, which does impart a sodium factor. Diners indeed were sprinkling it on. Considering the triple-overtime thrilling victory for their team, I donât think the attendees were too concerned about the mediocrity of their meal. 
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BRAZIL FIELD REPORT #2: Iâd been looking forward for several days to Bella Vista Brazilian Pizzaâs unlimited pizza/salad buffet. I was surprised, not in a good way, to find that today they were only serving breakfast stuff. I surmise this was because it was an early morning game (7am). Drinkables were coffee and Tropicana OJ. Chafing dishes were set up of regular American bacon, little pork links, pre-fab âhash brownâ patties ala Mickey Dâs, scrambled eggs and pieces of omelet. The only Brazilian thing was little cheesy fried garlic dough-balls. Things kind of stenched and were all mediocre except maybe the omelet, which contained greens, cooked-down red bell pepper or tomato, and sauteed onions; its egging was a bit undercooked. There were also terrible pastries, pre-fab, the mass-produced kind found in grocery stores in cellophane-wrapped packaging. Everything was greasy; so greasy, in fact, that my left foot gout began acting up on the drive home. I left early. I guess Iâd do Bella Vista again, but only for the pizza buffet, not breakfast.
Nice crowd turnout of about 60 fanatics, plus a 4-man drum corps. Their team won.
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As a soccer and someone who loves food, I LOVE this thread. Thanks Cousteau! Go MexâŠI mean Belgium!
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Thank you so much for chiming in, Red Devil! I am delighted to find out when anyoneâs paying attention. 
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JAPAN FIELD REPORT #2: The Far Bar in Little Tokyo drew a crowd of about 35. Interestingly, half were Japanese, but half were not; they were mixed everything else. There were 2 bartendresses/servers working, but they werenât pouring drinks all that much; their backs were turned a lot, entering data into tech screens behind the bar. It took 20 minutes before one of them asked to take my order, even though I was sitting right there at the bar, inches away. But when she did, she poured my Coke in matter of seconds. (Got free refills, too.) Since my appetite was compromised from the Brazilian event earlier that morning, all I ordered was a California roll. It came relatively quickly. It was fine and I give them credit for using real crab, although it didnât contain very much of it. The menu has 10 sushi roll choices, and examples of other items of their millennial-skewed fare are teriyaki sliders; sake- and Sapporo-braised tacos; wasabi fries; poke soba noodles; pork belly ramen; and to top it off, tempura Oreos.
When I settled up, in cash, the server engaged in the noxious practice of keeping the coin change owed me. Fine. I simply deducted it from her tip; which was already going to be on the minimum side for taking 20 minutes to place my first order.
The game exemplified shock and agonizing heartbreak in sport, and I donât want to even talk about it. But I will talk a bit about the venue; it is a very, very groovy facility, in that much of the old, beat-up interior and furnishings from its original mid-century chop suey house incarnation have intentionally been left intact. Bars/restaurants like this geared to millennials frequently bring in a âvintageâ decor motif; but this one utilizes the original real deal. Foodwise, something that Iâd like to try was âultimate bacon fried riceâ, containing bacon, char siu pork, green onions, and eggs. Iâll have to come back sometime.
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Far Bar has always been significantly stronger in alcohol than food. Consistency is also lackingâŠ
But prices are generally great, so thereâs that.
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