LI businesses seeing a boom from World Cup

When Mexico scored the tying goal in Friday's opening match of the World Cup, Gambino Ramirez slammed down his glass of water and joined staff and customers of his Farmingville diner in a celebratory cry of "Gooooooal!"

Soccer fever is in the air, and across Long Island the biggest event in the most popular sport in the world has people tuning in, as the quadrennial tournament opened with a tie between Mexico and host-nation South Africa.

Down the block from the Gambino's Diner, at the Portuguese bar and grill Fax Chix, Tony Soares, 52, of Central Islip, a regular and a supporter of Team Portugal, arrived at 10 a.m. for an early lunch.

"I went in to work early at 5:30 so I could be free to watch the match," he said. It didn't matter that his team wasn't on the field, the cars at his auto body shop, he said, weren't going anywhere.

Misael Flores, 23, a cook from Centereach who is of Mexican descent, watched the game at Fax Chix with his wife, Karla Velazquez, 25, and daughter, Itzel, 3.

"Of course I'm excited," he said. "It's the World Cup and my team is playing."

For Bruno Silva, 34, Fax Chix's owner, the World Cup is a business opportunity as well. He said he will open his restaurant in time for his customers - mostly fans of Mexico and Portugal - to watch each game of the monthlong tournament live, despite the six-hour time difference.

"I want Portugal to win, but I have respect for the Mexican team, too," he said.

It's not just Silva's business that's busy.

The Massapequa Soccer Shop in Massapequa Park is seeing a "sensational spike" in sales of soccer jerseys, said owner Gene Bodenstein, 74, of Massapequa. While the most popular national team jerseys he sells are Argentina, Portugal and Brazil, there's been an unexpected run on the $70 USA jerseys, he said.

"Everyone that's involved in the business has been calling each other to see if there are any USA soccer jerseys that have been left over and there is simply none of that," he said.

Silva said the World Cup allows soccer fans to come together regardless of nationality.

"Yeah, they could watch the game at home, but they come here because they want to be together," he said.

Ramirez, a native of Mexico, bought two flat-screen televisions for Gambino's so his patrons and workers could watch the matches.

As Friday morning's game reached its uninspiring end, Ramirez, 41, returned his focus to running the diner - at least until the next match.

"OK everyone," he said to his employees, "back to work."