A Puerto Rican couple had traveled from San Juan to Atlanta even though the wife said she was “scared” to visit the United States, because of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). That Puerto Ricans are citizens of the United States offered little sense of security, because “people don’t seem to know that.”
But a chance to see her hero Cristiano Ronaldo overrode her apprehension. So here they were at Centennial Olympic Park on Monday evening, having booked their tickets before learning that, because of a muscle injury, Ronaldo would not be part of Coach Roberto Martinez’s squad.
“This is how close I got to Ronaldo,” she said, showing me an iPhone photo her husband took of her next to a banner with a life-size photo of Ronaldo. It hung on a post outside the STATS Brewpub, site of a Portuguese fan club gathering. Inside the pub, most of the fans wore Ronaldo replica jerseys as they competed in a trivia game. “What is Pepe‘s first name?” popped up on the TV screens.
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