Belgians fete heroes

Press, 24 June 1986, Page 38

Belgians fete heroes

NZPA-Reuter Brussels

Champagne corks popped and motor horns blared in jubilation as Belgians feted their team’s unexpected advance in the World Cup with mass celebrations throughout the night. In a rare display of emotion from a normally phlegmatic people, thousands turned out in Brussels, Leuven and other cities to celebrate yesterday’s quarter-final triumph of the “Red Devils” over Spain. In the main square of the university town of Leuven, thousands of students, who took time

off from preparing for end-of-year exams to watch the match, chanted, “Merci, JeanMarie” — a salute to the goal-keeper, Pfaff, one of two Belgian heroes in yesterday’s match. In Brussels many watched the cliff-hanger match into the early hours in cafes then went straight into a night of revelling. The city centre echoed to the sound of car klaxons.

For most Belgians, who never thought their team would get beyond the early rounds of the cup, their team’s fortunes have taken on the air of a fairy tale.

As newspapers geared themselves for a deluge of hyperbole in today’s editions the French-lan-guage daily, “Le Soir,” summing up a mood of widespread disbelief, said: “The Belgian conquistadores have hoisted themselves, as if by magic, into the ranks of the four aces of the planet.” Belgian radio dispensed sympathetic advice to all-night revellers. “If you went a little too far last night, don’t rush things too much this morning. Get in some rest before heading off for work,” intoned a radio commentator.