“The World Cup really unites everybody.\
They had never met before.
Didn’t even know each other’s names.
Evan Lewandowski and George Sweda just happened to be sitting near each other in the overflow room at Thomas Magee’s Sporting House Whiskey Bar on Tuesday afternoon, as the United States Men’s National Team played Iran in the World Cup in Qatar.
After Christian Pulisic scored in the 38th minute for the Americans, everyone went crazy in this bar in Detroit’s Eastern Market. Arms shot in the air. Fans were jumping up and down and screaming and Lewandowski and Sweda went for the fast, hard, high five.
They whiffed horribly.
So they hugged.
“The World Cup really unites everybody,” said Lewandowski, 29, of Detroit. “It is one of the few things that you can go to, and not know anybody — I mean, we only know like two people at our table.”
But everybody was best friends by the end of it; and they were celebrating like crazy after the Americans held on for a 1-0 victory.
“I am ecstatic,” said Sweda, 23, of Ferndale. “That was, man, I almost had a heart attack. But we survived.”
The U.S. will face the Netherlands in the Round of 16 on Saturday. “We advanced,” Sweda said. “So it looks like I’m coming back.”
Because Thomas Magee’s has turned into a magnet for soccer fans in Metro Detroit.
It just pulls everybody together, along with a bunch of beer and patriotism.
It’s so incredibly cruel to hold a World Cup soccer match on a Tuesday afternoon, following a long holiday weekend. It forced countless fans across Detroit to experience a sudden case of illness. Cough, cough. Wink, wink.
“There’s a lot of people in here who called in sick today,” said a person who shall remain anonymous.
We don’t want to get anybody into any trouble. But that person may or may not work at place that rhythms with Pocket Mortgage.
