The official World Cup matches in Foxborough are over, but on Tuesday, visiting tall ship sailors brought their own global soccer showdown to East Boston.
“We’ve been coming in with open arms and it’s just so nice to see everyone becoming friends,” said Caroline Fleming, a marine operations coordinator with Sail Boston. “It’s amazing.”
Sailors from the Peruvian BAP Unión ship beat out players from the Polish vessel Dar Młodzieży for the win, earning a heavy silver trophy. The crews are part of the fleet that sailed into Boston last Saturday — more than 50 boats from more than from over 20 countries — to showcase navy vessels from around the world.
“It’s supporting camaraderie and friendship among the teams and countries around the world and the ships that have come to port in Boston,” Fleming said.
The sailors’ faux World Cup competition in East Boston isn’t the first event of its kind. Boston is the tall ships’ last port on their weekslong tour of five U.S. cities in honor of the country’s 250th birthday. Sailors played in a similar soccer tournament in Norfolk, Virginia last month.
The ships often participate in bonding events, from onboard receptions with foreign crews to sporting events like this one, according to Geoffrey DeLorie, a sailor on the U.S. Coast Guard EAGLE ship.
“It’s kind of just a way to say, ‘Hey, welcome to our boat, here’s our culture,’ especially when we’re in foreign ports as well,” DeLorie said.
That kind of mingling has been especially meaningful for Mateo Serrano, an Ecuadorian American marine on the USS Arlington, who got to meet sailors on Ecuador’s BAE Guayas as part of the Sail250 tour.
“We have the same traditions, the same way of thinking,” Serrano said. “It was nice seeing people from my country.”
The ships began their tours in New Orleans at the end of May and will wrap up Sail250 in Boston this week. At every stop, each boat has shown tourists around the cramped quarters where they eat, sleep, work and train. Many of the crew members are early-career sailors learning the ropes.
“It was kind of rough at the like the first few days because you’re not really that used to the type of environment,” said Serrano, who’s only been on the boat for a month. “I’m not used to sharing so much with so many people in a closed space.”
“For them it’s very fascinating, but for us it’s our job,” added Nico Kranatz, a German sailor on the Gorch Fock training ship said. “It’s cool to show people how we live, how we work, where we work, what we’re doing. And I think they’re very kind.”
Some of those visitors even showed up for the soccer tournament.
“We’re in town visiting and came in for the tall ships, so we thought we’d see what this event was like,” said Carmen Renneker, a visitor from Florida. “It is fun.”
As for the tournament itself, Americans — including DeLorie — were hopeful they’ll do much better than their team’s round of 16 exit from the official FIFA World Cup.
“Oh yeah, we’re going to win.”
