Get him to the Greektown

Greece 0-2 South Korea

A trip to the Danforth requires I wear the sandals of a Spartan and eat the breakfast that made those warriors strong: goat's milk yogurt. Don't believe me? We... are... PROBIOTIC!

Between Logan and Pape are umpteen pubs, open-air cafes and patios: Fox and Fiddle has the most screens, but there's also Bar 521, Caffe Frappe (arguably the nerve centre) the Iliadic Kaffeteria and even a Mr. Greek--which is ironically the only patio with empty seats. It's already 1-0 for South Korea when I arrive at Cafe Frappe, which means the indigenous tribe is despondent. Overcast morning skies and spitting rain don't help.

Korean confederates are widely interspersed throughout Greek Nation, with the nucleus of Asian teenage hipsters chattering at the Euro Crepe Cafe, oblivious to the icy sentiments along this stretch of Danforth. A pair of Korean women jogging by Cafe Frappe stop to check the score, laugh cockily and quickly run away. There's another run-by Korean gloating after the half at Mr Greek, where, still 1-0, I park to enjoy spanakopita and shore up flagging Hellas. But Greece keeps being cut off at each attacking angle. Don't these guys know about trigonometry? They invented it! Disappointing, considering the Samian obsession with triangles.

S.K. makes it 2-0 on a beautiful charge by Park Ji-Sung after an Argive giveaway and that's my cue to exit. I hear rumours of a Nigerian picnic in the North York wilderness of Jane and Sheppard.

Nigeria 0-1 Argentina
The rumours are true! Unfortunately, the weather is foul. By the time I find Northwood park--off a driveway north of Sheppard between Jane and Keele--things are even soggier than Greektown. The Nigerian-Canadian Association has gone to admirable lengths for this party, including open-air tents, a roasted corn station, and mock trophies for the kids. CBC  quizzes the crowd and spirits are high. I'm certainly the sole spectator with an Italy cap, yet I manage to avoid a heckling, as it's the Argentinians who are the target of wrath after a diving header goal by Gabriel Heinze in the sixth minute.

I leave at the half, as non-Cup errands put the blog out of commission for the rest of the day (including England-USA), so don't get a chance to try the corn. I hope the next Nigerian festa is a bit closer to downtown.

Bafanatics

South Africa 1, Mexico 1
I had contacted the South African consulate for a good spot  to watch the game; their dignitaries e-recommended the Samovar Room on Winchester St, north of Carlton off Parliament, ie Cabbagetown. Samovar is a Russian bar, but the owner's wife will be rooting for all the African teams. This second-floor pad glittering beneath gaudy chandeliers is sufficiently decked out in Bafana-colours to satisfy my hipster cravings for 'authenticity'. Did the old Soviet Union ever prop up the apartheid regime? I won't even bother to Wikipedia that; I'll just pretend that they did.

I sit at the bar beside two eight-year-old schoolchildren who are clearly not in school. To appear un-creepy I order a diet cola. There's a real ethnic mosaic in the room, which is pleasantly uncrowded. The Jamaican girl beside me wears a South Africa jersey, and the Mexican boy beside her tells me he's cheering for England. My bartender is from Malawi and I get her to pose for me in her RSA jersey.

As the gun sounds an Asian newswoman for some Suburban-Smiley-FunTime TV channel arrives and interviews fans re who they support. Self-consciously sporting my Italy cap, I suddenly feel I'm disrepecting Mandiba's legacy of unity, peace and pride and-what-a-great-moment-for-the-nation blah blah blah so I put my hat away and cheer for South Africa.

To its credit, Samovar serves the only free roasted corn nuts I've ever tasted that were somewhat edible, but their diet coke is flat as soccer pitch. I cave ten minutes later and order gin and tonic. Hey, it's already 10:15am!

I watch for only 40 minutes before biking back to work, and so miss both teams' goals. The 1-1 FT is a definite victory for RSA. Befana means 'witch' in Italian but I can only guess Bafana means 'genie' in South Africa as those men pulled a small miracle out of the bottle.

Juche 99 belongs to glorious DPRK!

Who is @DPRKSoccerTeam and will he allow UN inspectors to look at his team's balls?

North Korea is, no surprise, out for revenge in this tourney:

"The Juche 95 World Cup result was not legitimate, because FIFA excluded us on the basis of our world dominance of the armored train industry."

World Cup Hyper-Logic Omni-Cognate Super-Schedulizer

Interact with this awesome beast on marca.com (Thanks to John in Montreal for the tip)

Well I found my Ghanaian restaurant

Mama Pee's at Jane and Wilson - thanks to Daniel for the tip!

Also tracked down this 2006 list from toronto.com - some good choices there (albeit skewed toward downtown). Much better list from this 2006 National Post article. UPDATE: See this BlogTO post for 2010 selections.

Waving Flags Photo Exhibit

K'naan, step aside - you're not alone in capturing the spirit of a flag-waving world.

During the June 2006 Cup, my high-school friend and now-photographer Joe Howarth traversed the GTA with his camera, much like I did with my pen. Unlike me, Joe did not stop until he got footage of fans from all 32 nations, snapping them as they celebrated their teams and countries. Four years later he is displaying his photos in an art exhibit titled Waving Flags, on at the Rivoli, with opening reception this Thursday, June 10.

Excellent work, Joe - you've set the bar high for this blog. Can't wait to visit; best wishes in 2010.

Caveat Spectator

Take my advice, and think twice about the advice of http://www.wheretowatchtheworldcup.com/ - which for every single match in Toronto (click top right to toggle city) seems to list a bunch of British/North American sports pubs, not national hotspots. The site claims that French fans like to hang out at the Duke of Gloucester? C'mon.

This could be an excellent resource, but certainly needs more submissions. Perhaps their 'intel' will improve as the matches begin, but so far WTWTWC seems more like a transparent advertising ploy for selected venues.

South Africa v. Mexico - suggestions?

Twitter and Facebook have revealed the genius of laziness, ie asking more knowledgeable friends and strangers to do all the research. And even though this is a World Cup blog, I am the first to confess my football ignorance.

I'd like to cheer with the host nation for the first match. For South Africa venues in Toronto, chowhound.com says http://www.nandoscanada.com may be South African.

Also, Toronto Life has recommendations for African restaurants but these may be wide of the mark.

So far, I've only seen NOW magazine provide a T.O. Cup-viewing primer and I can't even find it online.

A thread on tripadvisor.com has asked similar questions for the 'not-so-famous' teams.

The next few days will require some research!

World Cup Sked

Click to enlarge. Or see fifa.com

Reporting every single game will be impossible, as I have a day job. The plan is to attend every 7:30am match and take appropriate lunch breaks for one of the mid-morning or afternoon games. I'll make up for it on weekends; by pacing myself I hope to avoid last Cup's blog burnout.