Adios and gracias for the memories

The final whistle blows and the players of El Salvador rip off their shirts in celebration to reveal the GAA shirts of their host county. Kerry gold, you might call it. Gold, after all, is the colour of the medals the young squad, hosted by Tralee on their arrival in Ireland, will take home to San Salvador this week.

"The only problem is they don't want to go home," says Yolanda Gonzales, the Madrid woman and Dublin resident who has been translator for the El Salvador and Ecuador teams through the week. "I don't want them to go home either," she sighs. "I don't want to go back to normal, I want them to stay forever - tomorrow I will be sad."

For now, though, Gonzales hasn't time to think about life after her experiences with El Salvador's Special Olympics squad, too busy accepting their footballers' hugs and thanks after the game. "Gracias Yolanda ... gracias Yolanda ... gracias Yolanda," they say. She's beginning to feel like she scored the winning goal.

Then she's back to work, translating for the players, all of them still panting with excitement half an hour after yesterday's game.

"Kerry gave us these shirts. They said they will bring you good luck - and today we had good luck," laughs José Barrera, the Séamus Moynihan of the El Salvador team.

On Monday, El Salvador beat Costa Rica 2-0 in their group game, but after beating Britain (3-1) and South Africa (6-0) in Saturday's semi-finals, the teams met again in yesterday's division one final, the showpiece of the week's competition at the Athletic Union League (AUL) in Clonshaugh.

El Salvador won again, the exceptional Gustavo Deras the star, as he has been for most of the week, scoring twice in a 3-2 win. If Deras had been born in Kerry they'd have christened him Darragh Ó Sé, and if he ever switches codes the Kerry player could be battling for his place.

It was a closer game than the group tie, with Costa Rican teenager Erick Luna Mendez twice bringing his team back in to the final when they had trailed 2-0 and 3-1, almost stealing a late equaliser only to be denied by the bravery of El Salvador goalkeeper Juan Carlos Ayala.

A gentle, passive game? When did you last see a gentle, passive Latin American football "derby"? If the jets flying overhead, having just taken off from Dublin Airport, had run out of gas they would have been comfortably fuelled by the passion oozing from the pitch in Clonshaugh.

El Salvador's Ruben Sigaran picked up two yellow cards and departed, but the player count levelled late in the second half when Miguel Cortez produced the mother of all "tackles from behind". The vast crowd gulped, the referee plucked the red card from his pocket, and Cortez headed for the bench, shoulders slumped, gesturing angrily at the official, who'd got it right. Game, effectively, over.

"They have been working for a long time for this moment, for months, for years - 90 per cent of the team have been together since they were eight years old," says Mario Orellano, one of the coaches of the gold medal winners, who lost to Argentina in the last Special Olympics final.

"Even if they had got a silver medal the people at home would be really, really proud of this team, but this feels like heaven, this is paradise for them."

Translating Barrera's words, Gonzales says: "He dedicates this success to his country and he says 'thank you' to Ireland because they give him the chance to come here and play football and have a time he will never forget. This is the best day of his life. He gave the best of himself today, and he's really, really proud of that."

"They were treated really, really good in Tralee," she says. "Family people, a lot of love for them, that is what they need."

The players repay the compliment on the winners' rostrum. "Kerr-ee, Kerr-ee, Kerr-ee," they chant, pointing at the group of Tralee natives who have travelled to Clonshaugh for the game.

Mary and Jacqui Quillinan, Gráinne, Lorna and Eoin O'Sullivan are among them, accompanied by their Dublin host Geraldine Barnett. "El Salvador, El Salvador, El Salvador," the Tralee locals chant back.

The players shower them in flowers, throwing them from the rostrum. Adios, El Salvador, and gracias for the memories.