Spirits were willing, but a few eyelids were weak.

Powering through yawns early Tuesday at Lower.com Field’s The Pub, a group of fans large enough to fill the place watched the U.S. Women’s National Team barely avoid a stunning loss and advance to the World Cup knockout stage with a 0-0 draw against Portugal.

The final whistle elicited more sighs of relief than cheers, but having that many local soccer fans make through without falling asleep felt like a victory unto itself.

“I will have some weary eyes, for sure, but we’re not leaving,” Nick Fowkes said shortly before the 3 a.m. kickoff. “We’re taking a victory home and moving forward in the group.”

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The “victory” part didn’t materialize, but the U.S. did advance. Soccer, meanwhile, continued to show its growth in Columbus via the number of fans willing to stay up all night at a watch party.

Fowkes and Eric Naumann, both of Columbus, were among the first to show up. After attending the Crew’s 4-1 victory over Club América on Monday night, they headed home to grab snacks, naps and new attire before heading back to Lower.com Field for the party. Like most there, their black and gold was replaced with red, white and blue.

“Columbus is somewhere people don’t expect to have a lot of soccer lovers, as much as we do,” Naumann said. “But the Crew is constantly selling out games, and as you can see from the watch party, it’s not just the local team that everybody cheers for. It’s a great community to be part of.”

Those who showed up for the watch party included teachers, medical staffers and even parents of adolescents. That last subset was larger than expected for an event that concluded at 4:58 a.m.

Liz Nix, Chris Fink and Luca Fink, 11, were among them. After attending the Crew match, they found a nearby parking lot and rested up for a 2:30 a.m. return.

“We slept in a parking lot for a couple hours before coming back here,” Nix said. “We live in Delaware, so we parked at a Wal-Mart parking lot, slept for a couple hours and decided to come back here.”

Asked if they felt rested enough to make it through the game, she nodded.

“I’d imagine we will,” Nix said. “I mean, we came all this way ...”

As it turned out, they left at halftime and weren’t alone.

Others, fueled by coffee and breakfast burritos, stuck it out to the end — including Erin Wellman and her group of four sixth-grade girls from Ashville. Wellman’s two daughters and their two friends appeared to get a little drowsy as the final minutes ticked away, but none fell asleep.

“It’s a whole thing for them,” Wellman said. “Their friends got to our place around 8 p.m., and then they all tried to get some sleep around 10 p.m., before we left. It’s been a whole day and we’ll probably go back to bed when it’s over.”

Wellman, a nurse, looked up whether the Crew would host a watch party because she attended one for the men’s World Cup years ago with her brother. That one was held outside the club’s former stadium.

“I thought they did something like this (for World Cups), so we just looked it up," Wellman said. "They were like, ‘Let’s do it!’”

Scott Rex of Westerville sat near Wellman along with Will, his 7-year old son. Rex, a Crew season-ticket holder, wore a U.S. soccer jersey. Will wore a yellow Pokémon jacket.

“He went to bed about an hour early, but we talked about it a couple times,” Rex said. “I wanted to make sure this was what he wanted to do, and he was excited about getting up in the middle of the night and coming into the city with dad. We’re both big soccer fans, so this is a special night out for the boys.”

They almost didn’t get seats.

“We walked up right at (3 a.m.), right as the game was kicking off, and I looked through the windows and thought, ‘This is incredible,’” Rex said. “I think it’s pretty clear that Columbus is a soccer town.”

It also became clear that hosting a watch party, even in the middle of the night, was a good idea. The match itself didn’t provide much excitement, but the gathering created plenty of memories.

“Soccer is such a communal sport, so people will watch it together, especially during the World Cup,” said Kristin Bernert, the Crew’s director of business operations. “The start times were convenient when the men played. They’re not as convenient now with the women playing (in New Zealand), but it also gave us an opportunity for people to bring their families out.”

More: Lucas Zelarayan's sudden exit leaves Columbus Crew fans feeling 'bittersweet'

Combined with a Crew victory over Club América hours earlier, it was a special night for local soccer fans, even with the news Monday that star Lucas Zelarayan’s rights were sold to a Saudi Arabian team for an undisclosed fee.

“To beat Club America, and then to come out here and celebrate the (U.S.) women playing in the World Cup, it’s been an awesome day at Lower.com Field,” Bernert said. “I didn’t know what to expect (from the watch party), but I’m really happy to see it's packed.”

bhedger@dispatch.com

@BrianHedger

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Crew's U.S. World Cup party a success