Women's World Cup in Civic Center

The San Francisco Rec & Park Department is hosting a public Jumbotron in Civic Center Plaza for the Women's World Cup Soccer playoffs which are finishing up this week in Germany.



The tiny crowd this morning watched the quarterfinals between France vs. England (France won on penalty kicks 4-3), followed by Germany vs. Japan. The other two quarterfinals tomorrow, including the U.S. vs. Brazil match, are not on the schedule for some reason, but the two semifinal games will be shown Wednesday morning and early afternoon.



The event was billed as a "Family Event," which meant there were a few inflatable play areas for the few tots in attendance...



...along with a free face-painting booth put on by America Scores, a literacy/sports nonprofit out of New York for "urban youth."



Most of the attendees seemed to be Germans...

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...and the gentleman above right was handing out Deutschland flags, noisemakers, and toy soccer balls for the "German Missions in the United States."

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After going to breakfast, I returned through the plaza with the game still scoreless in extra time. Since everybody seemed to be rooting for Germany, I decided to be perverse and root for the underdog Japan.

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After having a Rising Sun painted on my forehead, the Japanese team scored a miraculous goal late in extra time and then kept the Germans from scoring.

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This made the Japanese woman above very happy. For a funny analysis of why this was such an upset, check out Matthew Hubbard's post at Lotsa 'Splainin' To Do.