Aberystwyth, Wales, is the UK's happiest and most Europhile city and one of the few Welsh counties that voted to 'Stay' in the European Union in a referendum two weeks ago by a very significant margin.
It is in this university town, located by the sea, in North Wales, that André Soares, 10 years old, from Faro, a former Biology student at the University of Algarve and now a PhD student at the University of Aberystwyth, has been living for 25 months.
Today, André and a group of Portuguese friends he met there – including nurses, doctoral and undergraduate students, receptionists, hygienists, doctors – will join two of them, Filipe and Sónia, northern nurses and parents of two children aged 3 and 5, to watch the Portugal/Wales game.
«It was also there that we suffered in the first four games of this European Championship», tells André Soares to Sul Informação.
«We have managed to make the party as Portuguese as possible, with what some manage to fit into their respective hold baggage or receive in family orders, such as sausages from Monchique, scarves to support Portugal, etc. Even so, it is above all the atmosphere of family celebration away from the families that is generated that reminds us most of Portugal», explains the young doctoral student.
«Here in Aberystwyth, we are close to 30 Portuguese. We are PhD and undergraduate students, nurses, receptionists, hygienists, doctors, etc, and this variety of occupations makes it difficult for us to get together all too often. The few who manage to get together this Wednesday go to Filipe and Sónia's house».
In the previous game, Portugal/Poland, André and his girlfriend watched the game in a bar full of Poles (which there are also many in Aberystwyth), but this time, the young man from farense prefers to be «in the middle of others Duty, so that we can celebrate in peace».
«Yes, I miss Faro and my family, but around here they received me very well and the region of Ceredigion is beautiful. Only the results of #Brexit made me realize that my future will not be in the UK, but I still feel somewhat divided in relation to this Wednesday's game», confesses André Soares.
The young man says that the atmosphere is one of celebration, in Wales, for the good performance of his team in this Euro2016. “Over here, you see cars with Welsh flags all over the city. Lots of houses also show them in their windows. At university, they are hung in the windows of offices and offices. With each game, more Welsh appear in pubs and louder their support chants are heard. I hadn't even finished watching Poland-Switzerland with Polish friends, there were already more than 40 Welsh in the bar for Wales-Northern Ireland. And they didn't wait sitting down, they already sang and even supported Poland (it's in that bar that most Poles in Aberystwyth gather to watch the games) in the meantime. It's just as you read in the news coming out of France: the Welsh fans are great. A constant smile, lots of conversation, lots of “Don't take me home” and lots of fun (and beer…)».
All this support and the quality of the Welsh team make André Soares somewhat apprehensive. “The Welsh team, in addition to being extremely well prepared, is highly motivated for this Euro 2016. They are the last British team in competition and have incredible support from the fans. After the way they razed Belgium last week, only the yellow shown to Ramsey can help us Portuguese. Bale has led the team exemplarily and has been the source of creativity in most of the dangerous plays seen so far. Still, Wales has a cohesive team, managed by someone who just yesterday said he would "never consider" coaching another nation."
As for the national team, André Soares confesses, in his interview with Sul Informação, who, “after seeing Portugal-Poland in a bar full of Poles, I don't know if my heart will withstand another penalty shootout”.
“It has been a serious problem for our team to defend in conditions, and that was seen in Lewandowski's goal in the last game. Our 'amulet' has been Pepe, who, spectacularly, prevented us from being scored a few more goals. On the other side of the game, Renato Sanches has been the ultimate revelation in this team. Ronaldo, Nani and Quaresma continue to prove their worth, with the former always growing as captain and team player. It was exciting to see him take the first penalty for himself, in the last game, with all the responsibility and pressure that would involve».
Therefore, says the young man from Faro doing his PhD at the University of North Wales, "I think we are prepared for this next game, but it will be up to Ronaldo to motivate the team to face a team that is now going through its best phase ever".
«Still, we are 11 million Portuguese against 3 million Welsh, I hope we can shout louder and give Portugal strength to advance in this tournament», concludes André Soares.
At 20:00, in the city of Aberystwyth, there will be at least one house full of Portuguese people cheering for the national team.
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