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Published: February 11th 2008
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Behold the glory!!
The 95000 seater Maracana Stadium (not that anyone actually sits!) If you guys thought we were rubbish in losing Brad for a day when we first arrived, that was nothing compared to the start of Carnaval day 2. Clearly hungover from the previous nights antics, Chris and I were how shall we say, somewhat less than spritely in the waking up and getting motivated stakes.
Now the problem with us two being on Ipanema beach and everyone else being on Copacabana, is that its not easy to contact each other! There are seemingly no internet cafes in Ipanema and dozens in Copacabana! Also the guys don´t have a phone in their apartment, so by the time we manage to email them and get a response we have pretty much chased all over town at 2 hostels and 1 apartment looking for someone we know, all to no avail! Which is pretty disappointing as we are all meant to be heading off to the Maracana stadium for a footy match tonight! In usual ´wing it´style we dont actually know what time kick-off is either, so when we go back to the hostel and there´s a note waiting for us saying they had already gone, its fais to say that kick-off may
Cool or what! (Still no Lane though!)
How Big! (the stadium obviously, not matey on the rights neck) have been a little earlier than we expected!
After confusion buying our Metro tickets, we eventually arrive at the Maracana stadium, a 95´000 seater stadium and home to the biggest matches in Brazil, particularly Rio....well they do have 4 teams in the top flight! As soon as you come out of the stadium back areas, you are greeted with an awesome sight, the stadium looks absolutely immense and though we arrive 15 minutes late, you cant miss any of the atmosphere, particularly as the game is a derby match between Vasco De Gama and Botofogo. (These boys don´t really get on too well.....as you´ll read later)
As we get a beer, Chris starts chatting to an Irish fella called Joe (shocking that he was also buying a beer I know!) who invites us to go and sit with him as he is with a load of Gringos (foreigners like me), which we kindly take him up on. It turns out that the gringos he´s sitting with are wait for it.........only another budget expeditions group doing a South America tour like ours, but bigger! (bet you thought it was gonna be our mates then, didnt you.....go on admit it!)
C-Maracana
and some of the Gringos we met. Also for the second time in my life, an Aussie girl compares me to Heath Ledger. Hopefully not a recent likeness! (Thats Heath Rich yeah, definitely not Keith!)
So here we are people, stood behind the goal at one end of the stadium, cheering passionately for Vasco as you would too, if you were in the stand with the Vasco hardcore!
The bad news is by half time they were already 2-0 down, the good news is that guys just wander round the stands selling cold beers! (I suppose the Vasco faithful probably wouldn´t see it that way though!.......thought best not to ask them.)
Early into the start of the second half and Vasco pull one back (to non-football fans that means Vasco scored) and the whole stand went absolutely mental! I´ve been to a few matches in my time and some fairly large stadiums too, but I have never witnessed anything like this....the upper tier we were stood in literally began to shake as the Vasco fans celebrated.....there were drums and horns and a really catchy chant that seemed to go on for about 10 minutes, no im not exaggerrating. You couldn´t help but be caught
Ultras!
The Vasco Hardcore...... up in it all and not for the first time since my arrival in South America, I found it hard to stop smiling.
When the equaliser flew in the back of the net, it was game on and we thought a come-back could be in the offing, thoughts of that were quickly dashed though when the ref awarded Botofogo a penalty. Now I didnt really see the penalty, because what happened next is the other side of passionate football here in South America. We saw some commotion about 10 rows back and 15 seats to the left of us in our stand and quickly realised that trouble had kicked off between the fans. The police, armed with sticks that are the size of curtain poles, ran into the stand and started waging war with the trouble makers, until of course they threw in the tear gas. This of course sent fans screaming and running in our direction especially the girls in the budget expeditions group! Now this may sound a bit perverse, but to me this is part and parcel of football here in South America and something I remember seeing on TV when I was a kid. So
Sure it´s all smiles now....
Enjoying the match in the packed crowd. not only were me and Chris not running we were stranding there with childish grins across our faces enjoying the whole experience. (not that you could see as we had our t-shirts pulled up over our moves in a bid to offer some protection from the teargas!) It turns out that a few (obviously suicidal) Botofogo fans, had infiltrated the Vasco end, causing the trouble.
Well the penalty went in, much to the dismay of us Vasco fans and the game finished 3-2 to Botofogo. As we were leaving the stadium, even more trouble kicked off outside and the police were forced to shut the huge iron gates at the entrance to stop anyone else from leaving. When it was all said and done, it was a terrific game, a terrific atmosphere and a truly unique experience!
After the game, our new friends (yay) asked if we fancied going back to their hotel to party with them, well what were we to do, its not like we had any chance of finding the others amongst the masses. So we found ourselves sat by a rooftop swimming pool in Lapa (Central Rio), sipping beers and partying the night away
When laughter turns to tears...
The not so packed crowd in the aftermath of teargas!! until sun rose the following morning! They were a really cool bunch and it felt quite nice to be back in a big group again. During that time i got pushed into the hotel pool, enjoyed the warmth of the steam room (much needed after my soaking) and watched as a storm lit up the whole of Rio.
In my euphoric but somewhat jaded state, I caught the bus home and got back to our hotel around 8am, just in time for brekkie! So there I sat at 8 in the morning enjoying a coffee and some fruit and mulling over the evening and mornings events, truly an unforgettable and completely unexpected night.
Its times like these that remind me why I left behind the routine life (if only for a short while) in the first place.
Until next time..........
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