#14 - Slovakia

Sunday 20 June 12.30pm The fact that I was out at a house party for some time after last night's Cameroon game is no excuse not to trek up to West Hampstead to the Czech and Slovak Club, to watch Slovakia take on Paraguay. The club was founded by emigres after WWII. I meet a thirty-something guy who tells me he remembers visiting as a child, being surrounded by severe-looking old Czech men. It's easy to imagine them sat against the wood-panelled walls: clearly, not much has changed here in years.

There are no audible English voices in the bar, which is exactly the sort of thing I've been looking for. That includes the TV commentary. Despite the clear Slovakian presence, the atmosphere is more Sunday-lunch than crunch football match, with groups of friends catching up over a meal. I can only imagine that the halušky with sheep cheese and belly bacon is excellent – but it's a bit early for culinary adventuring, so I stick to a tasty little Pilsner Urquell.

By chance I get talking to a couple who tick off two of the countries I'm planning to watch during the day – result! Gaby is Slovakian, her boyfriend Jonathan is from New Zealand. Although Slovakia and New Zealand are in the same group, Gaby and Jonathan couldn't watch the game together and had to make do with texting each other - although even if it hadn't been a draw, it doesn't exactly look like they'd have ended up fighting.

At the end of the game I get talking to Adrian, who's doing something similar to me by visiting different national bars during the tournament. Only, sensibly, he's not trying to do every team: “I just don't care enough.” Wise man. Check out his blog, which is definitely worth a read. I particularly like the way he's looked up the word for “football” for every team he watches. Proper educational, that is.