Montreal

'A marriage of cultures' - soccer revelry fills street
Celebrating fans parade their colours as favourites and underdogs clash

KATE LUNAU
The Gazette

Monday, June 19, 2006

Montreal was a city of many colours yesterday as soccer fans donned jerseys to show support for their teams during three hotly anticipated World Cup matches.

On the tournament's 10th day, Japan tied Croatia 0-0, Brazil defeated Australia 2-0 and France tied South Korea 1-1.

The intersection of Mount Royal Ave. and St. Denis St. was splashed with Brazil's green and yellow, not to mention royal blue for France, white for Britain, orange for the Netherlands, sky blue for Argentina, and navy for Japan - just to name a few.

An impromptu street party got going about 2 p.m. outside Bayou Brasil on St. Denis as the city's sizeable Brazilian community celebrated victory over Australia.

About 200 green-and-yellow clad Montrealers filled the street with dancing, singing, drumming and celebration. Cars trailing flags blared their horns as they drove by.

"This is a small taste of what it's like in Brazil around World Cup time," said Claudia Guimaraes, 33, who watched the game at Bayou Brasil with her two daughters and husband.

"In Brazil, everything just stops for the World Cup."

El Salvador native Reynaldo Amaya, 44, showed support for Brazil by wearing the country's name emblazoned across his chest.

"El Salvador never qualifies for the World Cup, so I root for Brazil," he said.

Amaya is a chef at famed local eatery Au pied de cochon.

"We already won our 'world cup.' We're the city's best restaurant," he joked. "Now Brazil must win theirs."

Even fans sporting other teams' colours rejoiced in the Brazilian win. Samuel Gagnon, dressed in a navy Japan jersey, was among them.

"My mother's Japanese, so I support their team," said Gagnon, 32. He watched Japan's tie game with Croatia earlier in the day.

"But actually, my favourite team is Brazil."

St. Denis was flooded with royal blue as supporters of the French team flocked to L'Barouf to catch the 3 p.m. game against South Korea.

Crammed with about 250 patrons, the bar was filled to capacity.

Matthieu Marcille, a native of France, watched the match at another bar while wearing the deep blue jersey of his team.

"We celebrate a bit more discreetly than the Brazilian fans," he said as whistles and drums blared at Bayou Brasil up the street.

"But the French team has plenty of supporters here in Montreal."

Patrick Albanese, 42, is one of them.

The Longueuil man caught the Brazil-Australia and the France-South Korea games at Bistro de Paris on St. Denis.

Albanese shared his favourite thing about the World Cup experience in Montreal.

"The World Cup is about people of different nationalities all cheering one another on," he said.

"It's a marriage of cultures, just like Montreal."

The World Cup today: Togo vs. Switzerland; Saudi Arabia vs. Ukraine; Spain vs. Tunisia. For more information, visit www.fifaworldcup.com.

klunau@thegazette.canwest.com

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