2014 World Cup - Day 6 - Argentina x Nigeria

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Gameday!!!!!!

Well, not only gameday, but also the day I find out what my path to the Final is. My options are to follow Nigeria as 1^st or 2^nd in the group or Argentina as 1^st in case Nigeria was knocked out due to a win by Iran over Bosnia. I had booked flights and hotels based on me following Argentina, and if Nigeria advanced, I’d have to do some extra work.

After we woke up, we headed down to the hotel cafeteria for breakfast. The room was full of Argentina fans, no plates, no glasses, and a little bit of juice. The workers were doing their best to replenish the food and plates. We managed to eat a really good breakfast to make sure we had lots of energy for the day.

There were a few ways to get down to the stadium, so we asked around and decided to take a regular city bus. On the way, we got to see a lot of the city, drove by Gremio’s old stadium (Olimpico), and were dropped off a bout 1km from the stadium.

We passed a quick ticket check almost immediately and joined the masses in the short walk to the stadium. We got there around 10:30am, took some photos, and then headed inside. The weather prediction for today was rain all day, but the skies were looking pretty good at that point. I had taken my little umbrella to the stadium because I read on a site that only bigger umbrellas were confiscated. I quickly realized I was going to lose mine as I was about to run my bag through the x-ray machine at the second ticket check. Oh well, it was a cheap one anyway.

Luiz and I were sitting in different sections, but pretty much on the same curve. Once I settled in my seat, I looked down and immediately saw him in his. I took a few photos of him from above. Once he spotted me later, he did the same. I was pretty much surrounded by Argentines, sitting beside an English guy who talked way too much, criticized South Americans, whined about how FIFA is favouring us, thought he knew everything about soccer and us nothing. Us Brazilians and Argentines needed to remind him that we, combined, have 7 stars on our jerseys. Maybe he should listen to us next time; maybe that’s part of their problem. Haha Just to give an example, after Messi scored the free-kick goal, he said a left-footed player should never take them on that side. He is obviously insane. haha

Here's my video of the national anthems:

The start of the game was interesting because Messi scored on a rebound a few minutes in. The whole stadium went nuts, and while the Argentines were singing, Nigeria tied it up on a nice shot to the far post. 5 minutes, 2 goals. After that, the game cooled a bit as the teams weren’t going all out. Just before half-time, Messi had a free-kick that was a ways back and towards the sideline. I thought he might try going at goal and he did, hit in the top right corner, but the goalie saved it. It was really nice attempt. A minute or two later, he had another a tad closer and more in the middle. He did the exact same thing but the goalie did not have time to get across: 2-1 Argentina. And I got it on video:

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In the second half, I figured Argentina would come out and slow it down and control the game. That did not happen, as Nigeria tied it up right away running right through the middle of the defense. At this point, 4 goals, not bad. Luiz was probably happy at this point, but a 2-2 score was 1 Nigeria goal away from sending them to the top spot in the group, which I did not want. It wasn’t long before Argentina scored via a corner kick: 3-2. This made me breathe easy knowing Argentina was likely going to finish tops in the group, but once I heard the score in the other game, I knew my fate was sealed. Because Bosnia beat Iran 3-1, Nigeria’s advancing as second in the group.

This means that I will have to cancel my accommodations in Sao Paulo, change the one in Brasilia, and change a flight too. So my next game is in Brasilia on June 30^th: Nigeria x France.

The pros of following Nigeria as second are that I get to go to Rio twice, get to avoid Sao Paulo altogether, get to go to Belo Horizonte and potentially see France x Germany and Germany vs Brazil on the way to the Final. Better yet, I might see Brazil in the semi-final stage as opposed to just in the Final. With that being said, I'm not counting on it as Brazil has to get out of the mini Copa America to get there. They face Chile on Saturday and get the winner of Uruguay vs Colombia. The cons are that I might not see Messi play again in this World Cup, have to change my plans a bit and only get 2 days to visit family and friends in my home town of Blumenau. Overall, not bad.

After the game, was followed the masses to the Fan Fest. There, we had a few beers and watched the France vs Ecuador game, which ended 0-0. After the game, a band started playing and the party was on. Most Argentines were wasted, harassing the poor Brazilian girls, but all seemed to be having a really good time. We didn't stay long after the game and headed back to the hotel.

Regarding attending my first World Cup game in Brazil, I thought everything went really smooth. Transit was ok both before and after the game, the ticket checks went quick, and security lines were not long and were detecting illegal objects (see my umbrella). Inside the stadium, they have plenty of food and drinks, lines weren't long, seating rows were spacious and the stadium looked really nice. The Fan Fest was the best one I've ever been to, the most animated, the most organized with food and drinks. I was fairly impressed. Good job Porto Alegre!!

We leave here tomorrow night at 6pm and head back to Navegantes. From there, a quick bus ride to Blumenau, my birthplace. I'm going to start looking for flights to Brasilia leaving Navegantes on Sunday. My cousing Ana told me her husband Ubi got tickets to the Brasilia game also, so I might have company there as well on gameday, we'll see.

I uploaded more photos to this blog entry and will add 2 videos eventually, so make sure to scroll down (or to the next page if there is one) to view them all.

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