By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER EAST SIDE — Technically Chris Bayly, 24, had the afternoon off from work for summer hours, but he ducked out just a little bit earlier than scheduled Friday to catch the World Cup match between Uruguay and France at Pat O'Brien's Pub on Second Avenue.
"I'm not a big soccer guy at all," admitted Bayly, who lives around the corner from the bar at East 89th Street. "I just love that it's the biggest tournament in the world. Everyone in the world is watching this," he said.
Like countless other people around the planet, residents of the Upper East Side spent much of Friday in bars and other places with big televisions to catch the first day match-ups of the 2010 World Cup.
"I'm from California and I'm shocked at how into the World Cup New Yorkers are," said Aly Rowe, 24, a resident of Yorkville who caught the game at Marty O'Brien's pub between East 87th and East 88th Streets on Second Avenue.
"This is stuff I wouldn't be doing at home," Rowe said of the watching parties she plans to attend.
Angel Arias, 35, and his friends made a day of it at Rathbone's Pub at 1702 Second Avenue where they met early Friday morning over a breakfast of Coronas and eggs to catch the Mexico versus South Africa match up.
"For me, the World Cup is the ultimate," said Arias, who also works at the pub and planned to stay put in a corner booth until the end of the day.
Arias and his buddies were the rowdiest at Rathbone's Friday but owner Chris Binger, 36, said he expected a bigger crowd for Saturday's contest between the U.S. team and England.
Although the U.S. team is not known as a soccer powerhouse, fan Kolby Runager, 27, said he thought the team could take England.
"I think we got great chances," Runager said. "We haven't really established our identity as a soccer nation."
