Portugal faces off against an undefeated Colombia team on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium for one of the World Cup's most anticipated matches. For Portugal fans in Miami, the stakes feel especially high: this is the last World Cup for their iconic soccer player, Cristiano Ronaldo.
That tension was certainly in the air at Old Lisbon, a popular and longstanding Portuguese restaurant in Miami.
Abel Martins, a 64-year-old cook at Old Lisbon, told WLRN he’s been waiting a lifetime for this moment.
“ I was born in Portugal and I came to this country when I was a young boy,” he said, showing off a tattoo of a Portuguese flag on his arm.
“We were born playing [with a soccer] ball on the street since you're a little kid."
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Despite their star player’s success, Portugal has never won a World Cup. This is his sixth World cup and, at 41 years old, it is also widely believed to be his last. “[Ronaldo] is the GOAT,” Martins said. “ He's an old man, but he's very intelligent. He deserves a world championship.”
Despite a mixed start to its campaign, with a draw and a win, Portugal remains among the favorites to lift the trophy. Martins hopes this is their year. "I wish, I wish," he said. "If they win, it's gonna be crazy!"
For 23 years, Old Lisbon has been Martins’ pathway back to Portugal. During this World Cup in Miami, he’s been able to meet more Portuguese people who have flown into the city, just to watch the game.
“ It feels good when you see people enter into the restaurant with the Portuguese shirt on,” Martins said, “ I say right away, ‘Welcome.’ I wanna make [them] feel at home.”
What Lies Beneath the Game
Not all Old Lisbon restaurant staff are Portugal fans.
Rian Viana, a waiter originally from Brazil, will be cheering on his native country's historically successful team — it has won five World Cups, the most of any country.
Viana is very much looking forward to the Portugal-Colombia match on Saturday but has concerns about how strict travel restrictions have affected some team's players and their families.
“Considering the times that we're living, where there's so much separation, where we're just being divided as groups or races, it's good to see that we're all getting together for something that we all love, which is soccer.”
Those concerns have touched some players personally.
Vozinha, the goalkeeper for the Portuguese-speaking country Cape Verde, reported that his mother, Ana Candida Evora, was unable to see him play in person because of U.S. travel restrictions.
Evora’s visa issues — primarily raising the money needed for one — were worked out after the U.S. State Department, FIFA, U.S. lawmakers and Cape Verde’s soccer federation evidently combined efforts and cleared a path for Evora to come to Miami. She watched her son compete in a 2-2 draw with Uruguay last Sunday night.
