World Cup fever is here.

With the international soccer matches winding down to the final teams in Cup competition, Dan House, co-owner of the Tin Room Bar in Burien -- and a former world-class soccer player, is going the extra mile to give his customers a chance to catch all the action.

Opening his bar at six in the morning to showcase the early games is one of the many signs of his passion for the game.

No one knows the extent of House's skill and love for the game better than his close friend and former competitor, Pete Fewing.

Fewing and House would often train together through the evening and into the early morning hours.

"Dan was dedicated to being a great player. He could do a combination of things that others couldn't," Fewing said.

"What he's doing with his bar just shows his passion of the game and his customers.

As a former player, House knows soccer like the back of his hand.

He grew up in Des Moines, playing soccer at Mt. Rainer High School until he graduated in 1981. He went on to play for the University of Puget Sound for a year before joining a team in Ecuador. But his stay there lasted only three months due to complications with his immigration papers.

When he came back, House joined some friends and former teammates at Warner Pacific College in Portland and played there for three years in the biggest indoor league in the country at the time.

The success of the team placed them third and fifth in the nation, but it wasn't enough to fulfill his appetite.

"I really wanted to play in a soccer community, which meant leaving the United States," House said.

A friend with a connection in Germany gave him a chance to play for a team at a time when there were few American soccer players anywhere outside of the U.S.

The opportunity would offer a whole new atmosphere, from the language barrier or to the way people felt about the game.

"I was finally in a setting where people really appreciated soccer players," House said. "People weren't just playing to play there, they were playing to get into higher leagues and make a living wage."

House played in Germany for one year before he was forced to quit in 1988 due to an ongoing back injury.

Instead of taking a flight home to America, he self taught himself how to sail and made his way around the Mediterranean and across the Atlantic Ocean on his return trip.

Though his new passion is his new bar and gift shop, he still misses the game and plays with friends in Normandy Park when he has the time.

"I loved training with my teammates and just sitting in the locker room and having a beer," House said.

"I'm still good friends with all of them. I go to Germany a few times a year to visit them."

Though it's clear that Americans put soccer on the back burner most of the time and focus their interest on sports like baseball and football, House hopes that through his efforts at the Tin Room he can educate people about the game and be a gateway for new soccer fans.

"Right now, people get good soccer with the leagues in the U.S. but they don't get great international soccer," he said.

"When you go outside the country, you really get to see a whole different level of playing. It's great."