Local soccer fans kick up World Cup fervor

Karl Krewenka has tickets to the World Cup in South Africa, but he'll be watching instead today from his own back yard in Palatine.

Krewenka spent $1,200 to get tickets to three games, but once he started pricing out the $5,000 airfare each for him and his wife, plus related costs, and discovered he couldn't find a place to stay, he decided it just wasn't feasible.

So he got an eight-by-eight foot projector television, and using his skills as an architect, built a custom-made shade to watch it outside.

He plans to invite 50 or so of his closest friends over to watch today's first U.S. match, against England, as well as host a catered party for his upcoming 40th birthday and other games during the monthlong tournament.

"I just love the game," Krewenka said. "For the World Cup, the excitement in the stands and the quality of the game is much better than what we typically see."

Other fans are lucky enough to be traveling to South Africa for the games.

Tim Mohan of Chicago wears a Captain America outfit to every international U.S. match, and left Thursday for a 24-hour trip to Johannesburg with a national fan club called American Outlaws.

At last year's Gold Cup final in which the U.S. beat Mexico and played other matches, Mohan said he enjoyed watching with an international crowd, who were generally friendly and loved taking pictures with him.

For Rick Kaempfer, of Mount Prospect, the decision to go to South Africa was easy.

"It's the biggest sporting event in the world," he said. "It's fun to be around other people that appreciate the sport as much as we do. It's a spectacle; it really is."

When Kaempfer attended the World Cup in Chicago in 1994, he said, many fans were there out of curiosity and were more excited to see Oprah Winfrey on stage than the game.

Kaempfer will travel with his brother Rick and their sister Cindy, who is president of Green White Soccer Club in Mount Prospect, co-founded by their father, a German immigrant, in 1956.

On their trip, they will also go on a safari and see the prison-turned-museum where anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela was imprisoned before becoming president.

"This is an excuse to go to Africa too," Rick said, "which I've always wanted to do."

For those not fortunate enough to make the Cup in person, local "football" bars like Quigley's Irish Pub in Naperville, Douglas Street Sports Bar & Grill in Elgin and Grand Sports Arena in Hoffman Estates will have dedicated crowds.

Isamar Castellanos, who sells international soccer jerseys at European Sports in Schaumburg, was among the fans who showed up at the Grand Sports Arena at 8 a.m. Friday to watch the opening match pitting Mexico against South Africa.

"It was fantastic," she said. "Everybody was having a good time."