OFF TO THE WORLD CUP FINAL
Croatia fans cheer historic win
Elation, frustration, desperation, elimination.
England fans rode a helter skelter of emotions on Wednesday, buoyed by their side’s early lead in a World Cup semifinal which, had they won, would have advanced the country that invented soccer to the championship final for the first, and only, time since they won in 1966. Instead, it’s tiny Croatia, an independent country only since 1991 with a population smaller than British Columbia, who will take on France on Sunday.
Croatia supporters formed a horn-honking, flag-waving convoy that drove up and down Commercial Drive after 1,000 people emptied out of the Croatian Cultural Centre following the win.
“Croatia is 10 times smaller than Mexico City and now we are one of the best two teams in the world,” said Sibenik native Ivan Vatavuk. “Tomorrow we have to go back to work, but today is a holiday.”
The Croatian Cultural Centre’s large hall was jammed with 750 people, while another 250 filled a smaller hall, bartender Drago Hleb said. On Sunday for the final, every single room in the centre will have a TV and bar service for the evenbigger crowd anticipated.
“Everyone is welcome,” Hleb said. “This is the biggest event we have ever had. Until Sunday, that is.”
But it was time to cry into your beer for England fans.
“I’m pretty devastated,” Shaun Hewitt said inside the London Pub at Main and East Georgia.
At 32 years old, to him England’s lone World Cup championship 52 years ago is almost as misty as the King Arthur legend.
“If England had won, I was going to look at getting a ticket home (to watch Sunday’s final in London), that’s how much I was looking forward to this.”
Wednesday dawned gloriously for fans of the England side and various Lower Mainland establishments were packed as soon as the doors, and the taps, opened: at 9 a.m. in the case of the London Pub.
If you weren’t familiar with the lyrics to English soccer songs when you entered, you probably had memorized the whole canon by kickoff at 11 a.m. Three Lions (Football’s Coming Home), for instance, is lovely and catchy, at least for the first 15 times you hear it sung at jackhammer-level decibels. (It’s disconcerting, on the other hand, to hear a Vancouver sports crowd so uproariously sing along to Chelsea Dagger.)
With the game tied 1-1 at the end of regulation time, after England had gone up 1-0 early in the first half, almost everyone simultaneously realized they had to pee during the short intermission before extra time.
Except Dodie Taylor; she took the opportunity to pray.
“I’m not really religious,” she said. “But you just need to pray for people sometimes.
“If England loses, my boyfriend will be inconsolable. Oh God, yes, definitely.”
Teary and bloodshot eyes abounded after the final whistle.
“What can I say, the disappointment is strong,” Yorkshirewoman Carol Coyle said. “I’m heartbroken. How long do we have to wait for the next chance?”
A minority put England advancing to the final four in context.
“I was shedding tears earlier,” said Mark Winstanley, from the Lancashire town of Blackburn. “But I didn’t expect the team to get this far, it was a good run. It’s been the best summer ever. I’ll cheer for England until I die.”
Meanwhile, as the England crowd drifted out back at the London Pub, staff enjoyed welldeserved shots after serving 190 thirsty, hungry and boisterous patrons for five hours.
With Oasis’s Wonderwall ironically playing in the background — Liam Gallagher’s reedy voice mockingly promising “Today ’s the day I’m going to bring it all back to you” — Croatia fans might consider borrowing lyrics from at least part of an England soccer song for the match Sunday against France.
Fat Les’ Vindaloo goes: “Nah nah nah, (bonjour); nah nah nah, (monsieur).”