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WORLD CUP USA ’94 / THE FIRST ROUND : Spotlight : LIKE A WEEK OF ST. PATRICK’S DAYS

By HELENE ELLIOTT

That sound you heard was applause from the merchants of Orlando’s trendy Church Street Station area when they heard Ireland will be back in town for a July 4 second-round game at the Florida Citrus Bowl.

Bars like Rosie O’Grady’s flourished when Irish fans visited last week. Local business owners and World Cup officials are delighted the team--and its legion of fans--will make another appearance here.

“We could have done a lot worse,” said one local World Cup official, who asked to remain anonymous. “They’ll have to restock the Guinness at the Hilton Altamonte Springs.”

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Helene Elliott

Helene Elliott was with the Los Angeles Times’ Sports department from 1989 to 2024, first as a staff writer and then, starting in 2006, as a columnist. She became the first female journalist to be honored with a plaque in the Hall of Fame of a major professional sport as the 2005 winner of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Elmer Ferguson Award, awarded to writers “who have brought honor to journalism and to hockey.” A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she has covered 18 Olympics.

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