Hundreds turned out for a pleasant evening on the lawn at Garfield Park in South Pasadena on Monday, as the city hosted a watch party for the FIFA World Cup elimination match between the USA and Belgium.
The Americans proved to be little match for the experienced Europeans, who scored a 4-1 victory to advance to Friday’s quarterfinal match against Spain.
“This was huge when I was growing up,” said Belgian-born Raf Niclaes, who attended the gathering with his wife and son. “I think it’s great that they’ve expanded the number of teams this year. There has been a lot of really good competition in these games.”