Spaniards in Delhi party hard after World Cup glory

NEW DELHI - Dressed in red shirts with their faces painted red and yellow - the colours of their national flag - they danced, drank Cava and hugged each other while Spanish songs played on. The Spanish community in India partied till the early hours of Monday as their country won its first ever football World Cup.

A large number of Spanish nationals, including diplomats, gathered at the Instituto Cervantes, the Spanish language and cultural centre, at Hanuman Road in Connaught Place, which organised a live screening of the match from 11 p.m.

The mood was upbeat before the start of the match at Soccer City in Johannesburg as the Spaniards broke into song with “a por ellos”, which means “we will fight them”. The match was screened at three venues in the cultural centre, all of them adorned with Spanish flags.

To add to the mood, the tambor (a Spanish drum) replaced the South African vuvuzelas and people banged the tambor every time Spanish players came close to scoring a goal.

The final moment came after Spanish player Andres Iniesta’s goal in the 116th minute, which earned Spain their first World Cup title with a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands.

“We are the champions…I am in India and Spain have won. I love Spain as well as India. I am very happy and Spain played beautifully. They are now the Euro as well as the World champions. We have shown to the world what we are made of,” said an ecstatic Adan Reguoillo, holding the Spanish flag.

Drinks like Cava, the Spanish champagne, was served and Spanish music set the mood for the night as people danced and jumped to celebrate their country’s jubilant win over the Dutch.

The community did not forget to thank Paul the octopus, who had predicted Spain’s World Cup victory.

“The goal by Iniesta in the 116th minute obviously has to be the defining moment of the match. He is a brilliant player. Paul is once again right and we are on the top of the world,” said 23-year-old Juan Ubeda.

Many Spanish supporters also gathered at the upscale LAP at Hotel Samrat. Large screens were put out at the lounge’s garden as well as the club as part of an ongoing Spanish festival, ‘Las Ramblas’, along with drinks like sangria, cocktails, wines, beer and a variety of snacks.

However, the mood was sombre at the Dutch side after the country’s lost the World Cup for the third time.

Although the Netherlands embassy did not hold any live screening, some members of the Dutch community gathered at Ai, an upscale club in Saket, to support their team.

“I am proud of what my country has achieved. It is commendable that they reached the finals, a win or loss doesn’t matter. I am not sad but very proud of Holland,” said De Jong, a Dutch national.

Some even complained about the large number of yellow cards shown to Dutch players during the match.

Despite the loss, many praised their players for the great show at the World Cup.

Other clubs like Blues in Connaught Place, Cafe Morrison in South Extension and News Cafe in Vasant Kunj also organised live screenings of the match and gave special offers to attract large number of people.

“Although I was supporting Germany but as they were knocked out in the semi finals by Spain, I started respecting their game from that day. I am very happy that a deserving team has won. Still, the Golden Boot went to Germany’s Thomas Mueller,” said Lalit Singh, who watched the match at a bar in central Delhi.