‘Samba town’ celebrates Brazil victory

BRAZILIANS living in Gort, Co Galway, partied into the night last night, doing the Samba into the early hours, after they made it to knock-out stages of the World Cup.

The atmosphere at Thomas O’Donnell’s bar at the Square in Gort was described as “electric” and “brilliant, brilliant, brilliant” by the Irish who joined in the party.

Brazil beat Australia 2-0 in what was, however, described as another lacklustre performance by the tournament favourites.

But, bar owner Leo Finn, himself married to a Brazilian woman, Lyndimar, said it was “just mental” in the Co Galway town, which is home to 700 Brazilians.

“It has been an absolutely amazing day. I myself have been to the World Cup in 1990 and 1994 and nothing has compared to watching these games with the Brazilians.

“We must have had 300 people watching the game and at the barbecue here and there wasn’t one glass broken,” he said delightedly.

The first Brazilians arrived in Gort to work at Duffy’s meat factory during a shortage of skilled meat boners and cutters in Ireland and are now a mainstay of the town’s cultural and social life.

Gort is now known in Galway as ‘Samba town’.

Meanwhile, elsewhere across the country, Ireland’s 10,000 Australian residents were glued to the screens but didn’t get the ‘G’day’ they were looking for.

Their national team may have put on a gutsy performance but it wasn’t enough to stop the five-time winners of the World Cup. The Australians fought hard for the game but goals from Adriano and Fred in the second half put an end to the Socceroos’ hopes. The second Brazilian goal didn’t materialise until the dying minutes of the game.