![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783220927_326_default.jpg\")
Fans gathered at Centennial Park Saturday to watch the team’s last training session in the city and to catch a glimpse of Portugal\u2019s captain, Cristiano Ronaldo. (Spencer Gallichan-Lowe\/CBC)<\/p>\nPortugal fans are overjoyed about the squad\u2019s four day-stay in Toronto and it seems the team, too, loves the city.<\/p>\n
Jessica Gomes was among the fans who gathered at Centennial Park Saturday to watch the team’s last training session in the city and to catch a glimpse of Portugal\u2019s captain, Cristiano Ronaldo.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s his last day, so we want to send him off with as much good luck [as possible],\u201d she said. \u201cTensions have been high, emotions are high, but we’re super excited.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tom Tavares and Gilda Beriu were also in the crowd contained behind barricades at the park.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the bus arrived, as they were leaving the bus, we caught the back of his head and the backpack,\u201d she said. \u201cIt’s amazing, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beriu added Ronaldo is one of their son\u2019s heroes, which is why it was so important for them to be at the park Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look around here, you see the amount of people that have come out to see one team. But Canada is more than just one team, right? We see all the communities come together and it’s been great,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Fans gathered at Centennial Park Saturday to watch the team’s last training session in the city and to catch a glimpse of Portugal\u2019s captain, Cristiano Ronaldo. (Spencer Gallichan-Lowe\/CBC)<\/p>\n
But it isn\u2019t just the fans who are showcasing the love. Players alike say they love Toronto.<\/p>\n
‘It seemed like we were in Portugal,’ player says<\/p>\n
At a news conference Saturday, Portuguese right-back N\u00e9lson Semedo told reporters he had the chance to explore the city on his day off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was nice to see a lot of Portuguese people as well, a big community here,\u201d he said. \u201cWe [have been] receiving a lot of love here at the training ground, at the hotel as well. So yeah, we enjoyed [it] a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Portuguese left-back Nuno Mendes also told reporters it was great for the team to feel the support ahead of the team\u2019s match against Croatia on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s not normal, it seemed like we were in Portugal, but we weren’t,\u201d he said in Portuguese, which CBC Toronto has translated to English. \u201cThe fans give us an enormous amount of support and I think that’s very important for us. We felt comfortable.”<\/p>\n
At a news conference Thursday after the game, Portuguese head coach Roberto Mart\u00ednez had already said the venue and atmosphere were \u201camazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCongratulations to everybody, to the organizers, to everybody who was involved,\u201d he said. \u201cThe welcoming that we had was incredible \u2026 a wonderful feel.\u201d<\/p>\n
WATCH | Fans had a lot to say about their hero being in town:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783220927_602_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Ronaldo is in Toronto for the FIFA World Cup. Here’s what Portuguese fans are saying<\/p>\n
Soccer fans are excited about a critical match between Portugal and Croatia. Many can’t wait to see legendary striker Cristiano Ronaldo take to the field in Toronto. CBC’s Greg Ross has reaction from Portuguese fans.<\/p>\n
Martinez praised the training ground\u2019s grass and its changerooms, saying they had the same feel as \u201cold-fashion Premier League grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a shame that there are no more games here in Toronto, because we really enjoyed it,\u201d he said. \u201cYou see the safety for the fans, a wonderful, wonderful supported game \u2026 I think it was an incredible, incredible spectacle for football.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘Like serving old friends,’ restaurant owner says<\/p>\n
Even the player\u2019s family members showed their love for Toronto. Ronaldo\u2019s mother, Dolores Aveiro, and sister, Katia Aveiro, visited Mercado Restaurant, located at 682 Caledonia Rd., ahead of Thursday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
The restaurant\u2019s owner Carlos Oliveira said a mutual friend got in contact with him, asking if he had space to host Ronaldo\u2019s family. He says the answer was an easy, and obvious, yes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was that simple. And it was just unreal,\u201d he told CBC Toronto Saturday.<\/p>\n
Oliveira added Dolores was so nervous for the game, she told him she didn\u2019t know if she was going to be able to eat anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a real woman, being real, showing that she’s in high levels of anxiety and stress. And it was incredible,\u201d he said. \u201cI was expecting a little bit more pretentious people \u2026 but it was like serving old friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Portuguese national team arrived in Toronto shortly after 1 p.m. on Wednesday. Over the following four days, thousands gathered at Toronto Pearson Airport, Centennial Park, Stanley Park, community centres, meet-and-greets, and even the hotel where the team was staying to welcome the squad to Toronto.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Portuguese team left Toronto Saturday afternoon and is headed to Dallas, Texas for their game against Spain on Monday. They\u2019ll take with them the memories of fans who gathered for hours to show their support for the team.<\/p>\n
Toronto’s Portugal fans will remember exactly where they were when the Portuguese squad and Cristiano Ronaldo came to town.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Portugal fans are overjoyed about the squad\u2019s four day-stay in Toronto and it seems the team, too, loves…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":781001,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-781000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781000","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=781000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/781001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=781000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=781000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=781000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}