Europe's going to be soccer-mad this week (and England, having lost to France, is going to be suicidal). Here's our guide to the best, most beer-soaked places in Kyiv to watch all the action.
ndoubtedly save the economies of European countries millions in what would otherwise have been lost worker productivity. If the games began, say, at 10 a.m., as some of the 2002 World Cup games did, the inevitable calls would come into offices all over the continent, with company directors, regular working stiffs and the cleaning staff all claiming to be sick on the same day as the big match.
As it is, the evening schedule for this year’s tournament in Portugal has still produced some big matches that only a complete moron would have missed. Heavily favored hosts Portugal were dispatched pretty handily – 2-1 – by surging Greece in the tournament’s opening match. Embarrassing? You bet. Surprising? Not really. Greece come fresh off qualification over other big names, such as Spain and our own boys. A big dark horse, the Greeks.
Then there was the extra-time shocker in the late game Sunday that had headlines in France screaming as if France had avenged its loss in the Hundred Years’ War: “Zidane 2, Angleterre 1.” The already legendary French midfielder Zinedine Zidane beat the English with two goals in extra time and silenced the raucous English faithful, who had been singing “God Save the Queen” in anticipation of their first victory over the French since Waterloo.
Get in the Game
The point is that nothing’s a foregone conclusion, except this: where to watch the games.
As expected, the city’s standard sports bars – and even some not-so-standard venues, like Chinese restaurant Lun Van – are playing host to as many games (and as many spectators) as they can possibly hold. So we’re presenting our ratings for where to watch the games – and there are lots of games left.
O’Brien’s Irish Pub
17A Mykhailivska, 229-1584.
O’Brien’s has been so packed for the early games as to make it absolutely essential to reserve your table – or even your place on the floor. That being said, a packed room full of raving, foaming-at-the-mouth soccer fans is the best place to be for all the action. The pub has been prominently displaying the schedule of games for weeks already, they’ve got a reputation as being one of the best places in town to watch sporting action of all kinds, and there’s really no such thing as a bad seat in the house, even if it is on the floor.
Rating: 9 out of 10. Nobody’s perfect.
Planeta Sport
3 B Khmelnytskoho,
229-7929.
Planeta has screens on every wall and, above and around them, scarves and team memorabilia from about half the teams in the world. They even have a Brazilian flag behind the bar, opposite some of their autographed Dynamo jerseys, which goes to show you what these guys have on their minds most of the time. With so many screens showing every game from every angle, even those in despair, hanging their heads over their teams’ poor performances, won’t miss a minute of the action.
Rating: 8.5. Half-point deducted for the Brazilian flag, with no Ukrainian flag of equal size in sight.
River Palace
Naberezne Shose, Dnipro metro,
495-2525.
This floating entertainment and sports palace is swank, styled-out and impossible to miss, what with the search lights that flood the skies at night over Kyiv – a beacon to soccer fans if there ever was one. They’re still fishing out of the river the English fans who jumped overboard rather than face the fact that they lost to the French. Anyone not wanting to gamble on the games onscreen can head to the back of the ship to play roulette or blackjack.
Rating: 8. Point deducted for those traveling by metro, who can’t blow all their money gambling, as they have to leave early to get home.
Opera Cafe
51/53 Volodymyrska,
228-2836.
For many years, Opera was the only place in town where you could guarantee, week after week, that the big game would be showing, no matter what time of day or night. After all, it’s open 24 hours, seven days a week. What keeps them on the map year after year? Lots of cheap beer and rabid Ukrainian soccer fans, plus that dingy, almost desperate atmosphere that lends itself to celebrations, what with the jubilant knocking-over of beers at the final whistle and the snoggings of girls passing by, as if a world war had just ended.
Rating: 7.5. With bathrooms downstairs, meaning you could trip as, zipping up, you hurry upstairs to see what all the screaming and yelling is about, a full point deduction. They lose another half point for all the video lottery terminals on the ground floor.
Timeout
50 Gorkoho,
248-7396.
Timeout is a great name for a sports bar, once you overlook that in soccer, there are no timeouts. But we digress. There are few places near Timeout that show the games and have been visited by anyone but a tax inspector in the last four years. The place is also known for having good food, so those catching the early games right after work needn’t go hungry.
Rating: 7. They could reclaim at least one point if they encased four tickets to the EURO 2004 final in glass outside the casino instead of a brand new BMW. Cars rust, memories live forever.
