Croatian Canadian National Sports Centre
London has a massive Croatian population. With the World Cup going on, London’s Croatian-Canadian National Sports Centre has been hosting watch parties for Croatia’s matches. In Friday’s quarterfinal matchup, Croatia was taking on Brazil. While watching the match, Croatian-Canadian Josh Krstulovich told us that “It’s great how big the Croatian community is here in London and that there’s a place where we can all come together to watch the games.” Krstulovich isn’t originally from London, but he did spend some time here during his baseball career. He was back in London visiting friends and family for the holidays, and decided to grab some drinks and watch some soccer with fellow Croatians. “I love coming back to London, it’s a great city and the Croatian community has always been great to me. When I played for the (London) Majors I always got asked if I was Croatian because of my last name. That’s how I kind of knew about how big the Croatian community is here.”
The match between Croatia and Brazil was decided in a penalty kick shootout. After a dramatic finish, that included Croatia erasing a 1-0 deficit during extra time, Croatia was the team that ended up victorious. It was an incredible comeback. The people in the Croatian-Canadian National Sports Centre roared in celebration. The passion from the Croatians was infectious. People were crying and cheering at the same time. It was a full blown party. “I’m so pumped right now! Let’s go! That was crazy!” Krstulovich told us as he was celebrating. Croatia’s next World Cup match is Tuesday against Argentina.
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