Doubledown
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By Mitch Smith
Tribune reporter
5:40 p.m. CDT, June 29, 2014
Soldier Field will host a free viewing party Tuesday when the U.S. takes on Belgium in the World Cup, officials announced Sunday.
After huge turnouts and limited space at public watch parties for the American team’s group stage matches, the 61,500-capacity stadium by the lake should offer ample space for soccer-crazy Chicagoans.
The U.S. and Belgium will kick off the round-of-16 game Tuesday afternoon at 3, but fans can enter Soldier Field starting at 1:30 p.m. Normal parking fees at the stadium will be in effect, and alcohol and other concessions will be sold inside. The watch party had originally been scheduled for Grant Park.
The change of venue should offer some much-needed breathing room for the city’s growing soccer fan base. When the U.S. tied Portugal last weekend, 20,000 people crowded into a block-long stretch of Balbo Drive to watch the match on a single screen. As the street filled up before kickoff, police blocked entry, prompting some frustrated fans to hop the chain-link fence or climb a tree in Grant Park to find a view. Large crowds also turned out in Grant Park for group stage matches against Ghana and Germany.
In an online post announcing the location change, U.S. Soccer officials noted that Germany and Belgium played at Soldier Field on July 2, 1994. That’s just one day of shy of being 20 years to the day from Tuesday’s match. In that game, Jurgen Klinsmann, the current American coach, scored a goal for his native Germany.
mitsmith@tribune.com
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...-party-soldier-field-20140629,0,6746709.story
#OneNationOneTeam
Tribune reporter
5:40 p.m. CDT, June 29, 2014
Soldier Field will host a free viewing party Tuesday when the U.S. takes on Belgium in the World Cup, officials announced Sunday.
After huge turnouts and limited space at public watch parties for the American team’s group stage matches, the 61,500-capacity stadium by the lake should offer ample space for soccer-crazy Chicagoans.
The U.S. and Belgium will kick off the round-of-16 game Tuesday afternoon at 3, but fans can enter Soldier Field starting at 1:30 p.m. Normal parking fees at the stadium will be in effect, and alcohol and other concessions will be sold inside. The watch party had originally been scheduled for Grant Park.
The change of venue should offer some much-needed breathing room for the city’s growing soccer fan base. When the U.S. tied Portugal last weekend, 20,000 people crowded into a block-long stretch of Balbo Drive to watch the match on a single screen. As the street filled up before kickoff, police blocked entry, prompting some frustrated fans to hop the chain-link fence or climb a tree in Grant Park to find a view. Large crowds also turned out in Grant Park for group stage matches against Ghana and Germany.
In an online post announcing the location change, U.S. Soccer officials noted that Germany and Belgium played at Soldier Field on July 2, 1994. That’s just one day of shy of being 20 years to the day from Tuesday’s match. In that game, Jurgen Klinsmann, the current American coach, scored a goal for his native Germany.
mitsmith@tribune.com
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...-party-soldier-field-20140629,0,6746709.story
#OneNationOneTeam
