We were mid-bite on our Bratwurst Sandwich mit Pommes Frittes ($8) when Spain's Fernando Torres scored the sole goal, and we celebrated quietly with a swig of Franziskaner Dunkel Weissbier. A friend of ours whooped and threw her hands up in the air. She suddenly felt very alone, she mentioned later.

Not surprisingly, the crowd at Feierabend, the German-style bar down the street from REI, was solidly in Germany's corner. At least we assumed that from the Deutscheland hats and the guy wrapped (literally) in the German flag.

We chose Feierabend because the game started at 11:45 a.m. Sunday, and we were in the mood for a hearty German lunch, rather than tapas. It was early in the day, so we began with a stein of the Franziskaner Weissbier and an order of Reibekuchen mit hausgemachtem Apfelmus ($7) -- potato pancakes with applesauce. The bar was full, but not squished. More friends of ours showed after driving past the George & Dragon, which had a line around the block.

The match itself was gripping but not spectacular: Germany began strong, but lost momentum. Spain survived the initial barrage and made a habit of taking shots on goal about every other trip downfield. After the game, in the crush at the Elysian, a woman turned to a friend of ours watching the game there and said, "That was a good game."

"It really was!" he said, enthusiastically. "I was kidding," she said, furiously.