Kansas City Colombians prep for national team’s arrival for World Cup match

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With Colombia punching their ticket to Kansas City for a World Cup Round of 32 match against Ghana, things are about to get very exciting in KC, if they haven’t already.

To celebrate the men’s national team’s arrival, a huge gathering will take place on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. in Mill Creek Park.

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“We anticipate having a lot of people there,” Colombian Cultural Association President Orlando Gutierrez said. “We’re going to have some live music, we’ll have flags galore, that’s the name of the game. Bring your flag, bring your hat, bring your yellow jersey and have a blast.”

Gutierrez says there are roughly 10,000 Colombians in the Kansas City region. With that number expected to grow substantially over the next few days, he says this event could potentially be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“Let me tell you this, it’s never happened before,” Gutierrez said. “Ever. And I don’t know how many years will go by before it happens again in terms of having our team play in Kansas City, in the World Cup. I mean, it’s going to be a couple of decades probably before we see the World Cup come through the United States again.”

From pre-match festivities to official watch parties, there will be no shortage of Colombians celebrating their team playing in KC. One of those watch parties will be taking place at Paisa MX in North Kansas City. Although if you want to go, you need to call ahead.

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“We’re planning to have some live music, Colombian live music, and make something exciting for the people that are visiting us,” Paisa MX owner, Antonio Romanis, said. “We’ve been having to take reservations because we can’t accommodate everybody, and we’re trying to prepare to make sure we have seating for everybody.”

This isn’t the first watch party to happen at Paisa MX. Romanis says the energy has been electric for all three of Colombia’s World Cup matches

“Just being able to see the whole community of Colombians being here with us,” Romanis said. “Of course, we’re a Mexican – Colombian restaurant, but just seeing so many Colombians, you wouldn’t think there’s so many, but this place gets packed.”

This might not be the last time we see Colombia here in Kansas City. If they win their next two games, they will play at Arrowhead yet again in the quarter-final.

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