For the England vs. Croatia World Cup game on Wednesday afternoon, England fans definitely outnumbered Croatian fans at El Barco in Vineyard Haven. One man had painted his hand white with a red cross to look like the English flag and had “Let’s Go England” printed in bold letters across the back of his sweatshirt.
Gary Metters, who is originally from England but has lived on the Island for roughly 30 years, was there too, wrapped in a red and white flag of England. Mr. Metters had organized a watch party at El Barco for a group of his friends who always watch the games together.
“We’ve been watching football together for 10, 20 years.... We needed a venue that would host us because it’s gonna be loud and crazy,” he said.
Mr. Metters worked with El Barco general manager Mike Santoro to get the watch party together for the game. Both men reflected on how special it is to be on the Vineyard during the World Cup, a place with supporters from many different countries.
“I’m rooting for England, Brazil, Portugal, Colombia, and I was rooting for Italy but they didn’t qualify,” Mr. Santoro said. “Oh, and USA. The U.S. is my number one team.”
Mr. Santoro said this was the restaurant’s biggest turnout for a World Cup game so far. The restaurant had cable boxes installed last week in preparation for the tournament.
When Croatia scored just before halftime, tying the game 2-2, cheers rang out from one lone group of women.
Marija Lucic and Nola Bozic saw on Instagram that El Barco planned to show every World Cup game and knew they had to come and represent their home country. For them, being around other people — even strangers — added a fun energy to the experience.
“It’s nice. Everybody cheers, everybody celebrates,” said Ms. Bozic. “But we’re the only Croatians here — everyone else is for England.”
Although the majority of fans were for England, some said they would be rooting for a wide range of countries during the tournament.
Guillermo Bonnero is Scottish but has lived in England for 50 years. For the England vs. Croatia game, that translated to complete neutrality. Even after five decades, he said, he and his family won’t support any country that isn’t Scotland.
“I’m Scottish and I’m really proud of it.”
Mr. Bonnero was only on the Island for three days, but said he enjoyed the sense of community at watch parties such as El Barco’s.
Nearby, Julia Blanter was celebrating her first World Cup as an American citizen. Though originally from Sydney, Australia, she said the Australian team is her second choice and Team USA is her third. It’s France she’s most enthusiastically rooting for.
“I have since 98’,” she said. “I majored in French in university at that time, so I just fell in love with the French team.... It was the dream team.”
Ms. Blanter’s fingernails were painted red, white and blue for France. Still, the colors remained ambiguous enough to represent any of the three countries she supports.
“Everyone’s happy and just comes together,” she said. “That’s what I love about the World Cup. People from different sides just come together.”
Augusto Nunes is a Vineyard resident and played on the soccer team when he attended the regional high school. He said the Island’s Brazilian community is more excited than ever this year, as some games will be played nearby. When asked where he was planning to watch the game on Friday, he responded: “the stadium.”
In a last-minute decision, he bought tickets and a direct flight to Philadelphia to see the game in person. He will then return to the Vineyard Saturday afternoon, making it a quick trip.
For those who can’t make it to Philadelphia, El Barco will show the Brazil vs. Haiti game Friday at 8:30 p.m., and on June 24, when Brazil plays Scotland at 6 p.m., Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School will host a watch party June 24 at the Performing Arts Center.
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