June 18th -- Serbia Knows How to Party

As great as it is to watch the U.S. compete, it's even better knowing that an American victory will allow you to eat Shake Shack, or Rice-A-Roni, or a turducken. So after getting some much-needed rest, the WorldEaters were looking forward to a little home cooking--though The Purist would tell you that all foods are created equal...

Unfortunately, for most of the morning, our dreams of burgers and birds within birds (within birds) went unfulfilled, as the U.S. ceded two goals to Slovenia in the first half. However, after a quick strike by Donovan, and a beautiful pass from Altidore to Bradley, the U.S. knotted the game at 2. Minutes later, Maurice Edu one-timed a cross into the net, giving the good guys a 3-2 lead, and prompting me to dive headfirst across my office's conference room table and yell, "Give me a double cheeseburger, baby!!!" Then I sung the national anthem, which was remarkably well-received by my colleagues.

My reaction turned out to be premature. Edu's goal was nullified because he: a) was offsides; b) fouled someone; c) is black; d) didn't want me to have a cheeseburger, and the game ended in a 2-2 tie--an incredibly disappointing finish after an awesome second half effort. Fortunately, England tied Algeria 0-0, which gave America a chance to advance into the round of 16, and kept us from eating this garbage.

Typically, the Gang divides the eating assignments up by game, and I picked Serbia-Germany thinking that ze Germans would trounce the Serbs. But after a second yellow card disqualfied one of Germany's best players, the Serbs scored and held off the Germans, winning 1-0. So instead of picking up some brats from around the corner, I trekked to Kafana--by way of two trains and a bus--to celebrate the upset.

The restaurant was still packed with jubilant fans at 7 p.m., despite the game ending several hours prior. I sat at the bar and ordered the Serbian burger and the chicken kebabs. During my wait for the food, I struck up with a couple of fans, who recounted the revelry that ensued after Serbia scored. Without putting too fine a point on it--they got shitfaced as soon as Serbia scored (at about 10 a.m.) and became straight belligerent once the final whistle blew. The owner recounted--entirely in Serbia--how another patron ran down the street waving a Serbian flag; another fan revealed that their plan was to continue drinking, then take a boom box to the German bar across the street and blast Serbian music.

In short, those guys were awesome. So much so that I decided that we should have a Fan of the Day. Big ups to my Serbs. Keep holding it down...

Oh yeah, the food was awesome, if a bit pricey. The burger, which was actually similar to a gyro was flavorful, and nicely complimented by seasoned cabbage and onions. The kebabs were also very good, though I wish I had tried the traditional Serbian baked beans instead--the insiders told me that was a better choice.

Kafana was a great end to a hectic work week: the people were fantastic and added yet another dimension to our challenge. In addition to the food and "travel", we've gotten to meet a lot of great fans that are passionate about soccer and more than willing to share their culture and cuisine with complete strangers.