Newark Star Ledger: Bearing the burden of a country’s lifelong wait. We were looking forward to posting up videos of Brazil or Portugal celebrating their World Cup win in the Ironbound, but, alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Brad Parks interviews local Portuguese after their crushing loss to France on Wednesday.
For the team’s many supporters in this heavily Portuguese enclave, it’s been the wait of a lifetime.
“I wasn’t born the last time this happened,” said Costa, as he watched the early minutes of Portugal’s struggle against France. “I talked to my father and he told me about crying last time. I may never live to see us get this far again. That’s the kind of moment this is.”
It’s difficult to explain what exactly it means to be a Portuguese soccer die-hard. The short version goes like this: Portugal never wins anything.
“You can count what Portugal has won on one hand and still have plenty of fingers left over,” said Ivon Silva, a club vice president. “We’ve suffered over the years.”