Sunday, July 9, 2006 5:22 PM

Thousands crowd Boston City Hall Plaza for World Cup

(Boston - AP) — Thousands of soccer fans packed City Hall Plaza to watch the finale of the World Cup on a 27-by-20-foot television.

Fans filled the red-brick square on a humid 85-degree day and police estimated there hadn't been that many people on the plaza since the New England Patriots' Super Bowl celebration in 2004.

Italy won 5-to-3 in a shootout after a 1-to-1 draw with France.

The plaza was dominated by Italian fans. It's located just a few blocks from Boston's North End, an Italian stronghold so crowded for the match that police closed the main street to traffic.

Several hundred French fans packed the downtown bar Felt, near Boston Common.

Among them was 21-year-old Tom Caillol, of Marseille who here on a computer science internship at Boston College. He was surprised at the level of interest in the match in America.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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