While thousands of soccer fans packed stadiums around the country for World Cup matches, others found a way to experience the excitement closer to home Saturday at a watch party in the Bronx.<\/p>\n
Community members gathered at Bronx Terminal Market in the South Bronx as part of fan events taking place across New York City\u2019s five boroughs, with supporters representing countries from across the globe coming together to celebrate one of the world\u2019s biggest sporting events.<\/p>\n
Fans proudly wore jerseys from their favorite countries while cheering on teams throughout the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cBest sport in the world,\u201d one fan said.<\/p>\n
Others quickly rattled off the teams they were supporting.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrazil, let\u2019s go Brazil,\u201d another fan shouted.<\/p>\n
\u201cEcuador and Brazil\u2026 Spain\u2026 Argentina\u2026 Portugal\u2026\u201d another attendee said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPortugal because I like Cristiano Ronaldo. So wait, you say Argentina and Portugal, \u201d another fan added.<\/p>\n
The excitement extended beyond the fans themselves, with local vendors inside Bronx Terminal Market also embracing the international spirit of the tournament.<\/p>\n
Soo Lee, who began preparing food at 5 a.m. Saturday morning, sells Korean-inspired rice bowls inside the market and said the games have brought increased business opportunities to local vendors.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a huge opportunity for us not just myself but a lot of these vendors right now\u2026 how the World Cup is bringing people from different countries together. It\u2019s the beauty of living in New York. The melting pot of different people, cultures,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n
The diversity of fans attending the event was also on full display.<\/p>\n
Bernie Fonseca and his son Kevin traveled from Brazil hoping to experience World Cup matches in person, but said ticket prices led them to seek out alternative ways to enjoy the tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want to go to the game, it\u2019s like $2000, so having events like this is great,\u201d Bernie Fonseca said.<\/p>\n
The father and son spent part of the afternoon enjoying activities at the event, including a friendly game of tic-tac-toe soccer.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrying to beat my son but he just screwed me over,\u201d Bernie joked.<\/p>\n
For Bronx resident Joselo Hernandez, the tournament carries even deeper meaning.<\/p>\n
Hernandez, who grew up playing soccer in Ecuador, said the sport has always served as a connection to his home country and family roots.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father was a soccer player in my country\u2026 I love my country\u2026 I always want to go back and visit\u2026 but I live in a beautiful country,\u201d Hernandez said.<\/p>\n
Now living in the Bronx, Hernandez said he is passing that same love of soccer on to his son while embracing the opportunity to experience the global tournament in his new home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like soccer\u2026 I think it\u2019s a great sport,\u201d Hernandez\u2019s son said.<\/p>\n
Organizers say fan events and watch parties connected to the World Cup will continue across New York City throughout the tournament, giving residents additional opportunities to celebrate the international competition without stepping foot inside the stadium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While thousands of soccer fans packed stadiums around the country for World Cup matches, others found a way…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266035,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-280256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}