By Jiang Yaping
VANCOUVER, June 13 (Xinhua) -- With the 2014 FIFA World Cup now well underway, football fever is once again spreading across the planet. And here in Vancouver, the largest city in west coast of Canada, the local World Cup fans were gluing on TV screens and got excited about every match, even though the Canadian national team failed to qualify for the World Cup of this year.
Actually, it's been nearly 30 years since Canada qualified for the World Cup, but that doesn't mean that Canadians don't care about the beautiful game. For the bar owners and shoppers, it is also a good chance to make a fortune.
Commercial Drive in east Vancouver is home to one of the city's largest immigrant populations and it also has many of Vancouver's best sports bars - a perfect formula for a World Cup haven.
With matches beginning locally in the morning hours, some pubs are opening as early as 7 a.m. And by noon, fans had started to fill-up the local watering holes to catch the group match between Cup favorite Spain, and the Netherlands.
The owner of a local bar Eric Fergie told Xinhua that people were already getting excited about the tournament even though it has just started. The street has become the best spot for World Cup action because it's known as an extremely diverse and friendly part of the city.
"The excitement is building, everybody is enjoying it. The street was abuzz yesterday, especially with Brazil winning, so it's going to be a great tournament. We're looking forward to a lot of fun," Fergie said.
To Fergie and other bar owners ans shopkeepers, the World Cup offers a big boost in selling World Cup clothing or food and drinks.
Local shopkeeper Francisco Sosa said the tournament would bring a lot of merry-makers to the area, and he hoped to sell lots of T-shirts to the football fans. So far, Italy and Brazil appare to have been his best sellers.
"Now everybody excited, everybody happy, all Commercial, you know, is excited. It's amazing, because the World Cup it wasn't for four years. It's crazy, this street. I am so happy for that," Sosa said.
The early match times didn't stop fans of the Chilean squad from getting an early start on their Friday celebrations. After watching the Netherlands trouncing Spain by a score of five-to-one, these fans continued the party as they waited for Chile to take on Australia in both countries' opening match.
Local football fan Angela Arriza told Xinhua while eating and watching the World Cup game in a bar that she adopted Chile as she was born there and later moved to Canada. The World Cup always stirs up feelings of patriotism for her native homeland and it gives everyone a reason to celebrate, she said.
While her beloved Chileans are ranked modestly at 14th overall in the FIFA standings, Arriza is holding out hope for a strong performance from her side.
"Honestly, I think Chile will do well," said Arriza with a broad smile.
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