{"id":564028,"date":"2026-07-23T09:32:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T09:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/564028\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T09:32:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T09:32:11","slug":"she-worked-some-magic-from-above-donegal-mans-emotional-world-cup-final-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/564028\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;She worked some magic from above&#8221; &#8211; Donegal man\u2019s emotional World Cup final experience"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A Burtonport man who was spotted wearing a Donegal jersey at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.donegaldaily.com\/lead-stories\/burtonport-man-puts-donegal-colours-on-world-cup-stage-642308\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">World Cup Final<\/a>, has revealed that his ticket to the final was a last-minute surprise from his partner.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Brian Sweeney, sparked an online frenzy when he was spotted wearing the famous &#8216;Green and Gold&#8217; of Donegal during the World Cup Final on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>Unbeknownst to Sweeney, he had a become an online sensation during Spain&#8217;s 1-0 win over Argentina.<\/p>\n<p>It was only when he left the New York New Jersey Stadium on Sunday, and met his partner outside that he realised he had been spotted on TV.<\/p>\n<p>The game was broadcast to a global audience of over 1.5 billion people.<\/p>\n<p>However, he has revealed via Facebook that he only got the ticket at the very last minute as a surprise from his partner Lisa.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t know anything at all until I left the stadium. My partner Lisa had my phone, and to say I was flabbergasted is an understatement.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was all last minute, and we went to the stadium as a last resort to see if we could source tickets. However, I have to thank Lisa (my world) who sourced the tickets and presented them to myself and my son Jonathan. She gave us a day we will remember forever,&#8221; said Sweeney.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-sans font-semibold text-xl md:text-[30px] leading-9 text-primary w-full\">\n        You may also be interested in\n    <\/p>\n<p>            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.donegaldaily.com\/lead-stories\/public-completely-in-dark-over-donegal-town-courthouse-future-642833\" class=\"block w-2\/5 shrink-0\" aria-label=\"Public \u2018completely in dark\u2019 over Donegal Town Courthouse future\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>        <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/public-lsquo-completely-in-dark-rsquo-over-donegal-town-courthouse-future.jpeg\" class=\"max-w-full w-full h-full object-contain relative z-10\" width=\"150\" height=\"84\"  alt=\"Public \u2018completely in dark\u2019 over Donegal Town Courthouse future\" \/><\/p>\n<p>            <\/a><\/p>\n<p>            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.donegaldaily.com\/athletics\/donegal-athletes-dewhirst-and-friel-to-tackle-world-u20-championships-642830\" class=\"block w-2\/5 shrink-0\" aria-label=\"Donegal athletes Dewhirst and Friel to tackle World U20 Championships\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>        <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/donegal-athletes-dewhirst-and-friel-to-tackle-world-u20-championships.png\" class=\"max-w-full w-full h-full object-contain relative z-10\" width=\"150\" height=\"84\"  alt=\"Donegal athletes Dewhirst and Friel to tackle World U20 Championships\" \/><\/p>\n<p>            <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sweeney also revealed that there may have been some divine intervention at play in helping Lisa get the coveted tickets.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was a truly special day for myself and Jonathan. The final was also played on the day of my late mother&#8217;s birthday, which was very special to me, and I&#8217;m sure she worked some magic from above,&#8221; said Sweeney.<\/p>\n<p>Thanking everyone for their kind messages, he added: &#8220;I love my county and I love my country. D\u00fan na nGall go deo.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Sweeney, originally from Burtonport, has been living in Spain since 1995, and owns the hugely popular Shamrock Bar.<\/p>\n<p>He was delighted when his adopted homeland managed to secure a famous 1-0 win over Argentina.<\/p>\n<p>He will be back in Donegal next week for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.donegaldaily.com\/news\/bennys-summer-shindig-is-back-for-the-hospice-1-500127?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Benny&#8217;s Shindig,<\/a> which is an annual fundraising event in memory of Brian&#8217;s late cousin Benny Gillespie.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Burtonport man who was spotted wearing a Donegal jersey at the World Cup Final, has revealed that&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":564029,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1485,61,60,112],"class_list":["post-564028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-donegal","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}