another great article Sorry it took so long to get this to you: I just got a reply from the Star Ledger, for some reason the link was not working, so I got the article from the sports director at the Star Ledger, better late then ever, the article appear the day after Porto won the CL title The Ironbound hails Campeões Europeus Newark celebrates as Portuguese soccer club wins its first title in 17 years By STEVE POLITI STAR-LEDGER STAFF He knew the excuse was lame, but he didn't care. Manny Sabino closed his auto garage in Kearny yesterday morning, telling his employees he had to take care of some business in Newark. The business? Sitting on a bar stool, wearing a blue-and-white cap on his head, and sipping - okay, sometimes gulping - from a bottle of fine Portuguese wine. And, most of all, cheering for his favorite soccer club, F.C. Porto, in the Champions League Final. "When you are a fan," Sabino said with a shrug, "you will do anything you have to do." He was not alone. This was a huge day in the Ironbound, a day when schoolkids stood in front of TV sets in storefront windows and adults left work early to fill their favorite watering holes. F.C. Porto, the dominant team in their native Portugal, was favored to win the biggest championship in European club soccer. Porto lived up to the expectations, and then some. It crushed A.S. Monaco, 3-0, to claim the first title for Portugal in 17 years - and set off a celebration in Newark. "We did it! We did it!" Sabino yelled, jumping into the arms of his friends at Vianense, a bar on Van Buren Street. "Porto!" Luis Sousa yelled, holding a champagne bottle in the air with one hand and high-fiving his son, Licinio, and his 6-year-old grandson, Alexandre, with the other. The day was not over for the soccer fans, either. In the evening, many carpooled to Elizabeth to watch Boavista, another Portuguese professional team, play the MetroStars in a friendly game at Williams Field. The MetroStars won, 3-1. Boavista was one of five Portuguese teams staying at the Robert Treat Hotel in downtown Newark. The other four, consisting of veteran players from some of the biggest clubs in the Iberian country, were in the area for charity games. So yeah - Newark was a lot closer to Portugal yesterday afternoon than it looks on the map. "For Portugal, this is a very, very important day," said Pedro Jorge, who once starred for Sporting Club of Portugal. "In Europe, this is the biggest thing. Everyone wants to win." For the nonsoccer fans, think of it this way: The Yankees winning the World Series is huge, right? Now, imagine the Yankees winning another tournament after the World Series, and defeating teams from bigger, more powerful countries in the process, and you can understand why this was significant. The former players gathered at the Regional Bar in Hillside, just a few steps off Route 22, and watched the action from Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on TV screens around the bar. They all wore the bright colors for rival teams. It didn't matter. "Today, we are all Porto," said Armando Goncalves, a former Benfica player. "We are very happy for Porto." It was a similar scene in the Ironbound. The Sporting Club, just around the corner from the Iberia Peninsula restaurant, was packed with fans. When Porto scored its first goal, bartender Sara Rocha waved her bar towel in the air and gave everyone a free drink. Porto was just getting started. The second goal led to singing and dancing at Vianense at the other end of the Ironbound, and the third goal, scored just minutes later, led to absolute bedlam. Glasses were broken. Sabino started to cry. Rui Silva, the bar owner, handed out more than a dozen champagne bottles. The corks were popped just minutes later, with customers spraying the bubbly on each other as the Porto players swarmed the field six time zones away. Paul Ferreira, who nervously twiddled a victory cigar between his fingers during the game, could finally light it up. He spilled out onto Ferry Street with his friends to capture the moment with a photo. "Surprised?" Ferreira said. "I guess, yeah. For such a small country, it's a big deal. There were a lot of obstacles for this team to overcome to get here." Ferreira, who lives in Westchester County, N.Y., continued his celebration in Elizabeth, where he joined about 3,000 fans at Williams Field. Many wore the jerseys of their favorite teams, and some even waved Portuguese flags. The game was the official kickoff for the 25th annual Portugal Day Festival in the Ironbound, two weeks filled with events and celebrations throughout the neighborhood. It was also an opportunity for Boavista to expose itself to the several thousand soccer fans in the area. The team held clinics in the Ironbound community in the days leading up to the game, but the players spent more time posing for snapshots and signing autographs than teaching fundamentals. "For our kids to take part in the clinics and to see the professionals up close, it's a great incentive for them," said John Soares, director of the Ironbound Crusaders, a youth soccer organization. "The kids are all talking to the friends about this game." His young players stood behind the bench, singing "Boavista! Boavista! Boavista!" They could have easily been chanting "Portugal! Portugal! Portugal!" It was that kind of day.