Advertisement

France fans exult after watching World Cup victory from Regina cafe

'The sermon will be very short': Croatian priest in Regina preparing for World Cup final Sunday

Regina's Alex Cazi dreamt of being on the streets of Paris after seeing his French team win, bringing home the country's second World Cup in 20 years.

"I wish I was on Champs-Élysées tonight, and celebrating with the rest of the French population," he said, minutes after France defeated Croatia, 4 - 2.

Instead, he watched the game and victory from Abstractions Cafe Bistro, which saw both its cafe and lobby fill up with passionate soccer fans.

Cazi brought along his 10-year-old daughter and eight-year-old son to take in the game, having watched France wind its way through the tournament to get to Sunday's final.

His daughter, Océane, only had one breathless word to describe the victory — "Awesome!"

"We're the best team in the world. It's amazing," her father added.

With Croatia as the underdog, and Sunday marking its first appearance in the World Cup final, some were pulling for the small country of about four million people, including University of Regina women's soccer coach Bob Maltman, who was also at the cafe.

"Croatia's shown after the last few games that they're very resilient, very well organized," he said, adding that while he was cheering for Croatia, he felt the depth of the French team would carry them to victory.

As it turned out, Maltman's predicted result came true.

Croatian priest Vladimir Simunovic was ecstatic to see his team in the final as he watched the game in Regina.

While he described the game as a good one offering both teams scoring opportunities, he said, "Croatia was beating herself in the first half," referring to an own goal and a handball in Croatia's penalty area that gave France a penalty kick after a video review.

He said he wouldn't describe the result as a disappointment, but one tinged with a bit of sadness that Croatia couldn't bring home a gold medal.

"Everyone is very proud of the boys," he said.

At the end of the day, Maltman said he was glad to see the local enthusiasm for the World Cup.

"I think it's just great to see at a number of venues in Regina, a lot of soccer people able to get together and celebrate the world's game."