In Nîmes, it is not just the Blues that make the hearts of the inhabitants beat. The Portuguese community is eagerly awaiting tomorrow's meeting between France and Portugal.
In O Brazeiro, it's the calm before the storm.”Tomorrow, you'll have to pay attention to your ears, because there will be a lot of noise.“It’s a great time,” warns Eurico, the owner of this Portuguese restaurant. And for good reason: the place will be packed with Seleção fans on Friday, July 5, for the Euro 2016 quarter-final against France. The Portuguese faithful are so present in Nîmes that Eurico had to open her restaurant, which is usually closed on Mondays, for the match against Georgia.
“There is always hope”
And around the game of rummy, some have already started playing the prediction game. For Adelino, whom everyone here calls AD, the Portuguese's salvation will come from a great performance from Diogo Costa, the goalkeeper, but especially from the icon Cristiano Ronaldo.Portuguese don't understand who he is! How can some people criticize Ronaldo?“Here, we are not specifically addressing the Portuguese legend. And even when they are not facing each other, all means are good to re-launch the eternal debate between Messi and CR7 in order to prove the superiority of the Seleção's top scorer.
Portugal's performance since the start of the competition has not yet been unanimous around the table, nor has the performance of Didier Deschamps' men. Then “There is always hope“Juan says as he sorts through his papers.”Be careful, the French team is very smart.“Everyone agrees that the match should go to penalties,” Adelino replies.
Swinging heart
For these Portuguese who have been living in France for more than twenty years, this match is necessarily special. But in the end, the heart has the last word. “JI would still be happy if France qualified, that's where I live and work. But Portugal runs through my veins, it's the nation I support.“, explains AD, originally from Castelo Branco, in central Portugal about 260 km north of Lisbon. That's right, there will be a lot of them, at 21 hours, to be shared between blue and red.
