A colourful, jubilant affair welcomed soccer fans at the Libra Room on Commercial Drive yesterday to watch the clash of two South American soccer nations.
The barroom was split down the middle with yellow-and-green-clad Brazil fans facing one direction and red-and-blue Chilean fans facing the other. Brazil won the match 3-0.
A drum band echoed outside onto the street, while inside people danced and cheered and shouted at the televisions.
“The atmosphere is excellent, although Brazil is beating us,” said Jared Glick, a Chilean supporter, as he rolled a cigarette outside the pub. “It’s a good rivalry, happy and healthy.”
Owner Rico Bondi said the pub has been well frequented by South American soccer fans — Chileans, Brazilians, Argentineans — since the World Cup began.
“To me, the passion that Canadians have for hockey doesn’t compare with anything that Brazil has for soccer,” said Bondi.
A regular customer with links to the Brazilian community began promoting the bar online as a soccer hotspot through Facebook.
“It’s the power of the Internet,” Bondi said.
“People started hearing about it … It’s quite fun.”
