Sport & Fitness

Well, England couldn’t be there, but we can take vicarious satifaction that the final was contested between Italy and France, two nations whose immigrant populations are among London’s oldest and largest and who have contributed so much to our city over the centuries. We sent photographers to watch the final with delirous Italians in Frith Street and distraught French in Battersea. Zidane’s won’t have been the only sore head on Monday morning.

During the World Cup, Big Smoke has watched games with lots of different communities in all sorts of venues – Iranians in posh Kensington restaurants, Poles in bawdy Balham bars, Croatians in Chelsea gastropubs and Italians in Clerkenwell churches – and we only scratched the surface. This World Cup has seen St George’s Crosses flown by Londoners of all types, although in some parts of south London they’ve been outnumbered by the flag of Portugal. We’ve seen flags for Argentina, Brazil, Angola and England… all on the same car. Bars and restaurants have proudly proclaimed allegiance to Mexico, Germany, Japan, Trinidad & Tobago, Sweden, South Korea and more. That African restaurant on Wandsworth Road that you’ve always wondered about? Well, now you know it’s Ghanaian. Why not pop in and have a chat about Michael Essien some time? Inadvertently but indisputably, the World Cup has been a celebration of London’s diversity and unity in a way few can have imagined. Roll on 2010. Feature continues