By Divya Rajagopal and Nicole Fernandes<\/p>\n
TORONTO, June 30 (Reuters) \u2013 The World Cup has produced many magical moments so far, but perhaps none more poetic than Portugal and Croatia meeting in a last-32 clash on Thursday in Toronto, whose huge Portuguese and Croatian communities have been handed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.<\/p>\n
Portugal\u2019s Cristiano Ronaldo, 41, is coming to town \u200bfor the first time since 2009. Croatia\u2019s Luka Modric, 40, is returning after his 200th international appearance in the \u200ccity last week. Both players have won the Ballon d\u2019Or \u2013 Ronaldo five times.<\/p>\n
But for one of those soccer greats, Thursday could be the final time they grace the pitch on the world\u2019s biggest stage.<\/p>\n
It is a moment that two large diaspora communities in Toronto could have only dreamed of experiencing.<\/p>\n
Ontario is home to nearly 100,000 people of Croatian descent, the provincial government has said, and more than 300,000 people of Portuguese descent.<\/p>\n
Many of them reside in the \u200cGreater \u200bToronto Area, setting up a fitting backdrop for the match.<\/p>\n
Carina Paradela, Director of Operations at \u2060the First Portuguese Canadian Cultural Centre of \u2060Toronto, said Portugal playing in the city was very special for the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut obviously everyone is super nervous because we want them to win!\u201d Paradela said. \u201cSince they\u2019re all here next to us, we want to party!\u201d<\/p>\n
SOCCER-LOVING CULTURES<\/p>\n
The vibrant Little Portugal enclave in downtown Toronto will be in party mode regardless as bars and restaurants prepare to welcome a big wave of \u200bfans. There will be packed watch parties and a swarm of red jerseys, many with \u201cRonaldo 7\u201d on the back.<\/p>\n
Soccer is a massive part of Portuguese culture, helping families bond and diaspora community members feel a bit closer to home.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just part of our \u2060culture so much that we always associate it with really nice moments,\u201d \u2060Paradela said.<\/p>\n
It is a similar story for Croatians, whose passion was on display last week when fans \u200bsporting red-and-white checkerboard jerseys took over the streets of Toronto ahead of their match against Panama.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are expecting Croatians from all over \u200bthe world to come to Toronto, so it is going to be like playing on home ground,\u201d Davor, \u200cowner of the Croatia Restaurant in Toronto, said of Thursday\u2019s game. \u201cWe feel proud that we can host our national team here in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n
BIG PLAYERS, BIG COSTS<\/p>\n
Thursday brings a high-stakes battle between aging soccer greats Ronaldo and Modric, two former Real Madrid teammates and Ballon d\u2019Or winners who have been the faces of their national teams for years.<\/p>\n
One of them could play their last World Cup match on \u2060Thursday, but for many the chance to experience a final salute to the fans is out of reach. Resale tickets crossed $3,000 after the match-up was confirmed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think for (that price), maybe I could take a trip to Saudi Arabia and watch Ronaldo there,\u201d Paradela said, \u2060referring to the Saudi Pro League where \u200cthe world\u2019s record international appearance maker and scorer in men\u2019s soccer plays for Al-Nassr.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was a \u2060sport built on the backs of everyday working-class people and for them to be priced \u200bout is a \u200ctravesty,\u201d added Iva Grbesic, a Croatian Canadian who lives in Toronto.<\/p>\n
While only one nation will \u200bbe victorious on \u2060the pitch, both communities feel like they have already won with the opportunity to host their teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means so much for both of our communities to be able to have this game \u2026 with two amazing diaspora communities, really celebrating both of their teams,\u201d Grbesic said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of these communities is going to have a big party,\u201d Paradela said of post-match celebrations. \u201cObviously I hope it\u2019s us (Portugal), but it\u2019s still exciting to know that their (Croatian) community is going to be really happy that day.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Reporting by Divya Rajagopal and Nicole Fernandes in Toronto; Writing by \u200bNicole Fernandes\u2019 Editing by Ken Ferris)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Divya Rajagopal and Nicole Fernandes TORONTO, June 30 (Reuters) \u2013 The World Cup has produced many magical…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":774168,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-774167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}