Embassies get kicks from World Cup

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International diplomacy is serious business. So is the World Cup. But when the two collide, the result is inevitable.

Party time.

The World Cup means soccer parties, viewings and other assorted events at several embassies of the 32 competing countries in the next month. Fittingly, the first and one of the largest was yesterday at Germany's Embassy, the host nation of the World Cup, whose team also played the opening game of the tournament.

About 400 invited guests gathered in a flag-decked auditorium at the embassy in Northwest Washington to down pretzels and bratwurst (but no beer) and watch the Germans down Costa Rica 4-2. Among those present were the German Ambassador Klaus Scharioth and his Costa Rican counterpart, Tomas Duenas.

Before the game, both diplomats took shots on a goal set up outside the building. The goal was unattended, which is how it must have seemed to the German team in their victory.

"Whenever I'm on the phone to Germany, people are talking, thinking soccer," Mr. Scharioth said. "Politics moves into a secondary role. It's no longer the No. 1 topic. It's an extreme pleasure to have the whole world as our guests."

It is even more of a pleasure when your team wins.

That wasn't the case for Mr. Duenas, who returned to his own embassy for a smaller viewing shortly after the game began. But he seemed to know that his team was overmatched.

"If we were able to draw with Germany, I would be the happiest person in the world," Mr. Duenas said.

Meanwhile, at the Serbian Embassy, politics will be mitigated by sport. Montenegro declared its independence from Serbia two weeks ago, the final division of what used to be Yugoslavia. Yet the soccer team continues to be called Serbia-Montenegro because that's the name under which it qualified.