Viva Celtic

Argentinean Bhoys, Seba and Geronimo Ongarelli travelled a magnificent 7,000 miles to Paradise to see their Hoops heroes

 

- Mark Henderson

AS Seba Ongarelli and his brother Geronimo walked out of the Celtic Park tunnel and gazed around the sprawling stadium for the first time, the look of awe on their faces said it all – this was a dream come true.

Fans of the club since they were children, the founders of the first Argentina Celtic Supporters’ Club had been restricted to watching the team via TV from their home in Quilmes, a city within the Buenos Aires area – and over 7,000 miles from the home of their heroes. 

But, just 48 hours after watching their heroes in the flesh for the first time at Hampden in the 2-0 Scottish Cup semi-final victory over Rangers, they got their first taste of Paradise as they came in to chat to the View and Celtic TV. It was an unforgettable and surreal experience for the Hoops fans, whose passion and fervour for the club has certainly not been diluted by distance.

“It was really amazing,” Seba told the View in an exclusive interview. “We always wanted to be here as we always watched the games so to look around the stadium is really crazy.

“Sunday was a really incredible day as it was our first game in Scotland with the Celtic fans and it was a derby against Rangers. We won the game and the whole day was fantastic.

“To meet the fans and spend time with them was amazing and then to watch the game as part of the crowd and see all our favourite players was incredible. For our first game, I really enjoyed it. I want to be here for all the games but it’s difficult as Argentina is so far away but, for our first game, it was amazing.

“I would like to thank the club and all the fans as our dream was to come here and we are here - we are so happy to be in Paradise.”