Football, or Soccer, or Whatever

The World Cup is the story of soccer, but it's also the story of Aaron and Andrew Marestaing, two brothers who got so obliterated in North Beach during the last World Cup that they vowed to open a bar dedicated to the series for this one. But the 2010 World Cup San Francisco at Mercury Lounge offers more than just a bartender picking up the remote after someone screams, "Turn on the fackin' game, ya cont!" It's open every day, for every game. It offers a breakfast menu. If you have a cab receipt and $1, you've got a beer. If you arrive before 7 a.m. and have $1, you've also got a beer. (All this applies to enterprising alcoholics as well as soccer fans, to be sure.) Today's match is England vs. the United States at 11:30 a.m., and it's all the more interesting, and confusing, because the day job of the USA's star goalie, Tim Howard, aka T-Ho, happens to be tending the net for England's Everton (and, before that, Manchester United). He knows the enemy; he's usually the enemy.

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More About

• FIFA World Cup
• Andrew Marestaing
• Tim Howard
• World Cup Soccer
• Soccer

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For more venues showing the game, visit our World Cup Soccer Bar Directory.
June 11-July 11; Sat., June 12, 6 a.m., 2010