Soccer fans are gathering at bars in Taipei to watch the FIFA World Cup, as one of the world’s most watched sporting events opened in Qatar to mixed reviews on Sunday.
More than 100 soccer fans packed into the Brass Monkey in Zhongshan District (中山) to watch England play Iran on Monday night, including Filipino-Taiwanese Alex Hsu, who said the World Cup was a global event that brought people of different backgrounds together.
“Even though the World Cup does not have teams from Taiwan or the Philippines, it’s a good event that bonds people from East and West together,” he said.
Photo: Sung Chih-hsiung, Taipei Times
An Australian visiting on a business trip, who wished to be identified as “Mal,” said he on Sunday watched the opening match between hosts Qatar and Ecuador at the Brass Monkey.
“The atmosphere was quite good for the first night. The first game wasn’t a thriller, so I think as the games progress and the better teams start to play, you’ll find there’s going to be a hell of a lot of more people wanting to get amongst it,” Mal said.
“People have been locked up for the past three years waiting for a big international event to celebrate together and now it feels COVID is a thing of the past, so I think people are ready to come out to support their countries, support the game,” said Brass Monkey general manager Alex Warner, who is Canadian.
Irene Lin (林于楨), manager of Hooters in Songshan District (松山), said she was impressed by Monday’s crowd, but expected more customers for the Germany-Japan match tonight.
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