It was standing room only at Summers Restaurant, as the World Cup match between Nigeria and Argentina began at 1 a.m. Sunday morning, an early game in a day full of soccer.
There were different crowds in the dining room and in the bar at the restaurant, the only venue in Arlington, and in the Washington region, to show all of this year’s World Cup games live, at 2:30 a.m., 5 a.m. and 7:30 a.m.
In the dining room, soccer fans sat around tables, at folding chairs, or on the floor, eating, chatting, waiting for a long night of games to begin.
In the bar, fans were packed tight, with barely room for waiters to move, and the air was humming with conversation. It was a situation that made for strange tablemates, with Nigerians sitting cheek-to-cheek with their Argentine rivals, waiting for the game to begin.
But the crowds in both rooms quickly turned their attention away from food, away from petty rivalries, as around the world the match began on a Korean soccer pitch. Instead, the crowd at Summers often acted as a single body, cheering Argentina’s single goal as well as a couple near misses by the Nigerian Super Eagles, who eventually lost 1-0.
<b>THERE’S A UNITY</b> of mind, a singular kind of soccer fandom, that draws football fanatics to Summers from around the DC region, said Hisham Zenapi, a graduate student from Spain, currently studying at George Washington University.
"It’s the place to come when there’s a soccer event," said Zenapi, who crossed the Potomac to root for Nigeria at Summers. "I found out about it when Riyadh played Barcelona, back in 1995, and I watched the World Cup here in 1998."
It’s the right place to watch the World Cup, said Andy Fernandez. Fernandez, a Bolivian who is a "hardcore Argentine supporter," should know, after traveling to France for the 1998 World Cup matches.
That gave him a taste for watching the games live. "You don’t wait four years to see it taped," he said. "You can’t watch the World Cup on a rebroadcast. Impossible."
Anu Baiyeroju agreed: Summers is the place to watch live soccer, and that’s the only way to watch the World Cup. "Live is the best way to watch it. Do you want me to catch it on rerun?" said Baiyeroju, a Nigerian who has lived in the U.S. for seven years. "I can catch it on ESPN. But I’m here with friends; that beats watching it at home. It’s intense, but it’s fun."
<b>SOCCER ISN’T JUST</b> a spectator sport for Baiyeroju, a weekend player who spent time playing with a semi-pro team in Philadelphia. But he was realistic about the chances his countrymen stood against Argentina.
"I’m Nigerian, and I support Nigeria. But their chances are slim," he said. "It’s when we feel pressure – we’re not prepared."
Javier Iribarne hoped Baiyeroju was right. Iribarne, who called himself "100-percent Argentine," just moved to the area to take a job at Morgan Stanley, and found his way to Summers for World Cup games. "Someone in my apartment building told me to come," he said, as he sat in Summers’ bar, dressed in an Argentina jersey.
It was an obstacle to starting his new job, but Iribarne said his boss understood. "I told my boss, I’m sorry if I show up sleepy. But he already knows. That was in the contract," he said with a laugh.
Baiyeroju had quit his job shortly before the World Cup began. "I’m taking time off to watch all night," he said. "I had the night shift in 1998. I’m looking for the 3-11 shift."
At the cash register, brothers Sean and Gaine Nazareth were happy to be working during World Cup. Both Nazareths are waiters at Summers, and had to compete for the overnight shift.
"It’s so busy, everybody wants to come in to work," Gaine Nazareth said. "People are coming in from 6 to 6. We’re working 11 p.m. to 10 a.m." The only problem is finding work time to watch soccer, Sean Nazareth said: "We’re so busy, we don’t get to watch the game."
Summers will play host to some 4,000 people each week during the monthlong World Cup matches, said Joe Javidara, the restaurant’s general manager. There were almost 300 customers on Sunday night, he said.
That’s a problem for Summers’ managers, too. "All the employees want extra pay, for working the graveyard shift," said "I rented a hotel room for management, so during a shift if they need to take a nap, it’s there."
<b>IN SUMMERS DINING</b> room, some of the restaurant’s regular soccer fans were resting up, conserving their strength during the Nigeria-Argentina match. Over 20 years, Summers has built up a regular fan club, who show up for all of the year’s major matches, and many minor ones as well.
"We’re all regulars," said Arlingtonian Bob Brown, gesturing towards his half-dozen companions in one of the booths. They were an understated lot, in normal clothes that paled next to the bright blue jerseys on Argentina fans. They were the hardcore holdouts from one of Summers annual soccer fan clubs.
"We come here for the English premier league. We’re all Liverpool fans," said Brown. So of course he and his companions were rooting for the English team, and threw their support behind the U.S. and Irish teams as well.
"We got here early, around 11:45, and we’re here for the duration," said Brown.
Why watch so many games, so late, all together? "It’s no fun at home," said Kim Klyberg, a DC resident. "I’d just watch with my cats."
But they weren’t toughing out the whole month of World Cup. "It’s just a weekend thing," Brown said. "We like to come here."