Croats in San Pedro cheer soccer team to win

Unwittingly walk into virtually any darkened room of huddled soccer fans and you’ll be the subject of the time-honored rebuke: “Shut that door!”

And so it was Wednesday in San Pedro, where about 200 soccer fans gathered at the Croatian American Club to watch the crucial European Championship qualifier between Croatia and England.

England needed only to avoid losing to qualify for next summer’s tournament.

Croatia had already qualified, but wanted the victory to ensure they not only won the group, but also humbled a much more populous nation with an acknowledged soccer pedigree.

“It’s a big honor to beat England because they’ve always looked down upon us,” said Nicole Hazdovac, 25, of San Pedro, noting that Croatia is a small nation of just 4 million people.

The California State University, Dominguez Hills, student and friend Adriana Juravich, 25, of San Pedro were two of a handful of women who braved the crowd of beer-swilling men sitting in near-darkness to watch he game, with the odor of frying fish wafting through the room.

“It makes it even more fun because they’re hilarious,” Juravich said. “I took the day off work (for this).”

The comedy started early for England, which saw its inexperienced keeper lose his grip on a soggy ball that sloshed through his grasping hands and into the net after just eight minutes.

Five minutes later and Croatia was up 2-0.

At halftime, members of the 35,000-strong Croatian community in San Pedro — the West Coast’s largest — were positively crowing.

“Knocking out England is sweet,” exulted Branko Prebanda, 51, of Long Beach. “It is an extremely proud moment for such a small country like Croatia to beat a grand country like England.”

And for some Croats, it is a semblance of payback.