WORLD CUP:
Football passion and pandemonium

The Mirror’s guide to World Cup hot spots in Montreal

by PATRICK LEJTENYI

Get ready and be warned. As of Friday, June 9, you are pretty much guaranteed to be totally unable to escape the sound of honking horns, wild exuberance and general chaos as the FIFA World Cup 2006 opens in Germany. Montrealers of all shapes, tongues, creeds and colours will be getting in on the fun. Here are a few places you can join them.

England

England fans can forge a rare, non-violent link with Ireland this World Cup as Hurley’s Irish Pub (1225 Crescent) will be opening early for England’s first match—against fellow Group B side Paraguay—this Saturday morning at 9 a.m. Same goes for McKibbin’s (1426 Bishop), which definitely has a strong England fan base, while management at the Old Dublin (1219A University) say they’ll open early if regulars request it. All three say matches involving European countries draw big crowds.

West Island England supporters and ex-pats can settle in for pints and steak and kidney pies at

Kelly’s Pub (88 Donegani) in Pointe Claire. With new 42-inch and 63-inch flatscreen high-def TVs, traditional English pub fare, 12 kinds of beer and free finger food, the place is bound to be packed. All matches will be televised, but supporters are urged to arrive early on England match days, as the two-floor, 150-capacity pub will be overflowing.

Another place to not watch Wayne Rooney is Hymus Pub (177 Hymus), also in Pointe Claire. As of 9 a.m. on Saturday, June 10, they will be broadcasting England’s first match, with others to follow. Contests are planned throughout the month.

Germany

At the corner of Fairmount and St-Urbain, Berlin (101 Fairmount W.) will open its doors at 8:30 a.m. every day of the tournament and serve a $5 buffet breakfast, free with a pitcher of beer. Two 81-inch screens will show the matches, with replays in the evenings. All are welcome, no cover, and ordering food won’t be necessary. An outdoor terrasse will keep the party going if the German side wins.

The Spielberger-Giroux family-run, Bavarian-themed Petit Munich (4888 St-Jean, Pierrefonds) will be kicking out the Teutonic jams throughout the tournament, with lots of beer (naturally), contests, give-aways and sausage by the foot. The restaurant will be installing four new plasma-screen TVs and recording early matches to replay them at night. Patrons can call (626-8899) to request specific matches, and the owners will try to be as accommodating as possible. On the Cup’s opening and closing days, the Team 990 AM sports talk station will broadcast on-site.

The Goethe Institute, along with the Montreal-German Chamber of Commerce and the German consulate, will be holding an opening match shindig at the Rocksbury (1234 Bishop). There ain’t nothing like partying with foreign academics, business types and diplomats, so break out the gold, red and black on Friday, June 9 at 11:30 a.m. Tix are $10-$15. Call 844-3051 or e-mail consulting.montreal@germanchamber.ca.

Italy

This will be easy. Walk into just about any establishment on St-Laurent between St-Zotique and Jean-Talon and you’ll find merry Mediterranean mayhem. Special hotspots include Café Italia (6840 St-Laurent), with its two 32-inch TVs, Puma-sponsored Café Epoca (6778 St-Laurent), which is already taking reservations and will draw up special menus on Italian game days, Café International (6714 St-Laurent), which will have at least two TVs on, and Bar Sportivo (6804 St-Laurent), now in its 42nd year, which will be its usual bedlam. Salvatore, the bar’s fast-talking, impenetrably accented owner, promises that every game will be shown on this two 60-inch TVs.

Slightly less insane but sure to be packed will be St-Viateur’s coffee alley, with Café Olympico (Open Da Night, 124 St-Viateur W.) and the Italian Social Club (180 St-Viateur W.) screening matches as well.

Spain

The Spanish Social Club (4388 St-Laurent, where El Salon used to be) will be showing every match throughout the tournament, although don’t be surprised if you find yourself surrounded by Real, Barça, Zaragoza and Sevilla jerseys. They’ll be serving light breakfasts of croissants and muffins and the like, and entry is free. This marks the first time the club hosts World Cup matches. Up the street at La Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent), matches will be televised all day on their one small televison.

Portugal

As one of the biggest Portuguese-owned bars in a heavily Portuguese neighbourhood, Café Frappé (3900 St-Laurent) will be busy, busy, busy all month. Doors and taps open at 8:30 a.m. every day, with five TVs and one giant screen downstairs, three TVs upstairs and—smokers take note—two TVs on the spacious outdoor terrasse. The only food on hand will be pre-made sandwiches. Virtually every other Portuguese establishment will be showing the games as well, but die-hards can go expect Café Portugal and Triangulo, across the street from each other at Duluth and St-Dominique, to be full of (mostly older male) Portugal supporters.

Brazil

Champs (3956 St-Laurent) will, of course, be screening every match on their six giant screens and 72 TVs on two floors and openly welcomes supporters of every country. But don’t be surprised if, during Brazil games, you see drummers come in and start playing. Best to show up long before match time. They’ll be opening early for morning matches.

Bobards (4328 St-Laurent) has declared itself to be the centre of Brazil’s World Cup action. Hosting as it does already Brazil-theme Sundays, the bar will screen all happy-hour time games and some of the noon ones. For Brazil matches, musicians will show up and add some more character and noise to what will surely be packed houses.

Trinidad

Although no longer the exclusively sports-oriented bar the Main Event, Birdy’s (6180 St-Jacques W.), with its 25 TV screens, will be broadcasting all the games throughout the tournament. Management expects a heavy turnout of Trinidad supporters, as they’re the only team from the Caribbean, but odds are there’ll be a bunch of English and Greek fans as well.

Iran

Concordia’s Reggie’s pub (1455 de Maisonneuve W.), has been designated World Cup central throughout the tournament by the Concordia, McGill and UdeM Iranian students’ associations. Entry’s free, all Iran matches will be screened on giant TVs, and hot dogs and burgers will be on the barbecue. Cheap beer guaranteed. Saffron (1801 Ste-Catherine W.), will be trying to convert everyone into Iran fans by offering discounts based on the team’s victories and free alcoholic beverages after each Iran goal. You can have both an intimate dining experience and have your mind blown by three 42-inch plasma TVs at La Maison de Kebab (820 Atwater), whose genial owner hasn’t yet decided what kind of specials he’ll be offering for Iran victories. At NDG’s Restaurant Esfahan (5594-A Sherbrooke W.), staff will ask each customer the score of the day’s match, and, if they answer correctly, give them a free plate of koobideh, a Persian dish of ground meat and rice.

No borders!

Montreal has plenty of ethnically neutral sports bars, all with various specials and give-aways, including McLean’s (1210 Peel) and the various Cages aux Sports, which will surely be packed for matches, especially those at mid-day.

See if Mile-End hipsters can drop player names with the same aplomb as they can with obscure bands at the Green Room (5390 St-Laurent). The bar will be opening during the day this month, usually around noon, to show matches on their widescreen TV, with beer, coffee and light food on offer. Management says staff members will be rooting for their own particular countries, so the atmosphere should be suitably cosmopolitan.

One-worlders can gather at Les Pas Sages (951 Rachel E.) to watch matches involving any and all countries in a frenzy of international goodwill, from June 9 to July 8. All matches are free, and will be preceded and followed by music and documentaries. The series is organized by La Lucarne (www.lalucarne.com), a Montreal-based group that throws annual sports and film festivals. World-Cup-themed films will be screened at the Cinémathèque and Goethe Institute all month, and the festival culminates with a big blow-out at Parc Jean-Drapeau for the Cup final televised on a giant screen on Sunday, July 9. The match begins at 2 p.m. although things—including music, food and booze—will be getting going at 11 a.m.