Several thousands of fans gathered at the Hermosa Beach pier early Thursday morning to watch the USA vs Germany game in the 2014 World Cup. Hetty Chang reports for NBC4 News from Hermosa Beach at 5 p.m. Thursday, June 26, 2014.
A viewing party at the Hermosa Beach Pier brought the World Cup a little closer to home for those living in Southern California.
Major League Soccer team the Los Angeles Galaxy hosted a free live-stream for fans to watch the U.S. World Cup squad face-off against Germany in Recife, Brazil Thursday.
The game kicked off at 9 a.m.
It was the last match in round-robin play for both teams and a win or tie for the U.S. would have guaranteed advancing out of the “Group of Death” and into the knockout stage.
"Our goal is to beat Germany and to be first in our group in order to play the second-place finisher of the other group in the round of 16," U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said in a press conference Monday. "This is really important so we cannot kind of just hope that it goes our way.
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Although the U.S. lost the match, they still advanced into the round-of-16 due to the results of the game between Portugal and Ghana.
The German side hasn’t lost a match since June 2, 2013, when the Americans prevailed over them in a 4-3 victory. This was the last contest between the two squads.
Adding yet another storyline to the match, German native Klinsmann faced his old team.
He coached Germany to third place in the 2006 World Cup and, as a player, helped to lead West Germany to a victory in the 1990 World Cup.
Fans started showing up hours before kick-off brandishing American flags and decked out in red, white and blue.
Thousands filed onto the pier to watch the U.S. team play, a sign of the World Cup fever overtaking the nation.
The Americans’ last match against Portugal was the most-watched soccer event ever in the U.S., drawing more than 25 million viewers.
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Even after the 1-0 loss to Germany, U.S. fans at the viewing party still celebrated advancing out of the group stage and into the next round, cheering what has become the motto of the team “I believe that we will win.”
The next match for the American team is set for July 2.
