ESPN reports that the internet has been flooded with "where is Slovenia" searches. In Cleveland, one answer to that question could be found at the Harbor Inn --- one of the city's oldest bars --- which was brimming with Slovenian soccer fans. Northeast Ohio is home to the largest population of Slovenians in the U.S. And a couple hundred of them packed into the Harbor Inn to cheer on their team.
SOUND: crowd cheers and guy plays euphonium
DCB: Instead of the plastic vuvuzela horns that have been bleating throughout the South African-based World Cup games, the sound of a brass euphonium gave a celebratory blast when the Slovenian team scored. Fans who arrived early for the 10:00 game, were treated to a Slovenian breakfast, prepared by Harbor Inn owner, Wally Pisorn.
WALLY PISORN: Slovenian sausage, scrambled eggs and toast. Because it's 10:00 in the morning, they want to have Slovenian beer with that. Big seller is Lasko Pivo.
Standing nearby, former St. Ignatius high school goalie and current Ward 3 councilman Joe Cimperman raised his green bottle of beer as if on cue.
JOE CIMPERMAN: I know Wally's busy very often here at the Harbor Inn, but I doubt he's selling this many Laskos on a Friday morning at 10:00am. So, it's good for the economy.
Like many second and third generation Slovenians, Cimperman was trying not to play favorites with one team or the other. Clevelander Moni Zalar admitted to having mixed emotions about this game.
MONI ZALAR: Everybody in the United States gives us a little bit of flak for cheering for Slovenia, instead of USA, but it's our homeland.
But, for Kristina Mejac, the outcome of the game wasn't all that important.
KRISTINA MEJAC: It's a win-win situation. If Slovenia wins we're extremely happy, if the US wins, we're still happy.
SOUND: Slovenian language cheer UP & UNDER
TONY OVSENIK: (translates) What they are saying is, "If you don't jump, you're not Slovenian" In other words, if you're not extremely happy, you're not Slovenian.
Miro Petek didn't need any translation of that. Petek's a member of the Slovenian national assembly who's part of a delegation that was in town for the big game. Petek says the Slovenians have a deep passion for soccer --- or as they call it "nogomet".
MIRO PETEK: "Nogomet is the number one sport in Slovenia, and we hope that we will win this World Cup (chuckles).
DCB: In the end, the Americans and the Slovenians battled to a 2-2 tie, but many U.S. fans claim a controversial call from a referee prevented them from winning. It wasn't exactly a decisive triumph for the crowd at the Harbor Inn, but for Jure Zmauc, the head of the Ohio Slovenian Consulate, it was still quite an achievement.
JURE ZMAUC: This game is for my country ---Slovenia ---very important. I think after this game, all Americans will know, where is Slovenia and who the Slovenians are.
