World Cup runneth over with beer and T-shirts

By Samsudin Berlian

JAKARTA (JP): The banker shouted, waved his hands, and jumped up and down on his chair when Roberto Baggio scored for the Italian squad in the semifinal against Bulgaria in a way that one usually sees only at the stadium.

But he was not in crowded Giants Stadium or in any arena at all for that matter. He was among nearly 200 spectators in the conveniently located, air conditioned -- albeit thick with cigarette smoke -- ballroom of the Shangri-La hotel, watching the seven-meter-wide, 6.9-meter-high screen showing the live broadcast from New Jersey. In the back of the room, a buffet of salad, meats, bread, soup, cake and nasi goreng awaited them.

Sony Parengkuan, a Lippobank chapter manager, liked the place because of the big screen and the enthusiastic small crowd.

"In my home I feel sleepy," he said.

And, to compensate for the energy he expended all night long, he promised to sleep through Thursday until evening, trusting his staff to handle the work in the office.

Hotels and restaurants throughout Jakarta are now moving to cash in on the huge interest generated by the sport of soccer. There is no word yet what affect this might have on the banking industry, robbed of its high level management who come to work exhausted on the days of the early morning games. However, it seems to be a godsend for the providers of food and accommodations who want to stay up, watch the game and make a profit all at the same time.

Interest, and therefore marketing, in the World Cup has grown substantially in Jakarta in recent years. A Cup ago, watching the World Cup in a restaurant or hotel was almost unheard of. Then, the most popular place to watch the soccer championship was with the throngs of people gathered in front of small television sets in warung (local food stalls).

Now, many venues are competing for World Cup fans and they have to be creative if they want to bring in the crowds.

Shirts and beer

Another soccer fanatic present at the semifinal matches was Poltak Sirait, owner of Medan, a North Sumatra-based Palansaa bus company. He has 10 sons and gave them names like Maradona, Van Basten, Rudi Voeller.

He and his family are taking a month-long vacation touring Sumatra and Java by car and are now staying at the Shangri-La. He also found the arrangements at the ballroom enticing.

There, spectators paid Rp 75,000 (US$36) to enter the ballroom, where they received food, crystal clear reception for whatever World Cup games were on, two glasses of beer, plus a T- shirt that vaguely resembled the uniform of their favorite team.

The Shangri-La has turned out to be one of the more successful Cup-viewing venues in the capital. There were even pre-game festivities, where an early crowd -- the majority of whom were young people -- sat on rows of chairs reminiscent of a movie theater while they were entertained by a band.

Among the semifinal spectators were a dozen former Indonesian national players having a good time enjoying the games and each others' company.

Risdianto, who played with the national team from 1970 to 1981, cherished the nostalgia and the enthusiastic crowds. He has been a regular customer during the month-long World Cup and enjoys everything the hotel offers although, being of the old school, he still prefers watching a game in a stadium.

Of course, the gatherings inevitably attract young couples who have more than just soccer in mind. At first, Monita did not really care about soccer. However, after she received free tickets from her father she decided to go with her boyfriend Bobby. To her surprise, and probably to Bobby's as well, she found that when the game was taken off the living room couch, soccer was indeed appealing.

But, as all responsible parents could have already guessed, at that early hour Monita and Bobby were accompanied by her younger brother and sister.

The Shangri-La is not the only establishment to offer such a service in the city. Several other hotels and restaurants are offering much the same, albeit at a smaller scale.

Le Meridien, also in Central Jakarta, provided about 20 seats for customers at Le Rendevouz bar. The four-square-meter screen showed a slightly blurred projection of the live broadcasts. There, the cup was free and viewers only paid for what they ate and drank. It is also worth noting that Il Punto, which produces what is easily the best thin-crust pizza in the archipelago, has been offering heavily discounted pizza and beer for all of Italy's games.

Exuberance

The Mandarin Oriental erected a makeshift tent containing six tables, a dozen extra seats and several fans to cool the customers beside the swimming pool at its Pelangi Terrace. The screen was as big as the one at Le Meridien and the viewing was also free.

Paolo Randone, manager of the Zigolini restaurant to be opened in the hotel next month, and a couple of his Italian friends jumped fully clothed into the swimming pool after the Italians won. This, he said, was a ritual to show solidarity with the celebrating Romans who jumped into the Baroque fountain in Piazza del Popolo after the Italy-Bulgaria match.

They had a party afterward and vowed to have another one early Monday morning when Italy will face Brazil in the grand finale, which Randone rates a 50-50 proposition.

Randone explained that to Italians, soccer is like religion, with the most important thing being a nice match, not winning.