It certainly wasn’t pretty, but the United States men’s soccer team has made an unlikely advance into the second round of the 2014 World Cup.
Soccer fans across Vermont flocked to places like Three Penny Taproom in Montpelier Thursday for the Americans’ early afternoon match against Germany.
A goal from the Germans in early in the second half wasn’t what the crowd at Three Penny was looking for.
But despite its 1-0 loss Thursday, a win and a tie in the U.S.’s previous first-round games was enough to earn them a ticket to Round of 16.
Wes Hamilton is co-owner of Three Penny, where many fans enjoyed midday drafts with their televised soccer. Hamilton says many of the 60 or so people packed into his bar Thursday are the same diehard fans who frequent the establishment for its European league broadcasts.
“But then on top of that [we have] people who are just casual fans and don’t really know the game and coming in and checking it out and learning about it and getting a sense of why it’s so exciting and fun,” Hamilton says.
The U.S. will look to advance to the quarterfinals with a win next Tuesday.
