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Our plan for today was to climb up the Leme rock, but not really climb it, more like walk up a nice trail. Bruno, Nina and I started our walk and in no time we ran into little monkeys. We saw about 6 or so right away, 5 of them hanging onto a single branch. The walk was nice and peaceful and the sun was out in full force; it must have been 32C or so. Bruno and I took turns carrying Nina up the hill, but Bruno endured the steepest part.
Once we reached the top, we had a nice view of all that Rio is famous for: the Christ, Sugar Loaf and Copacabana Beach. You also get a nice view of the FIFA Fan Fest that was already full in anticipation for the Argentina vs Belgium quart-final game.
I took a bunch of photos up there and had a quick snack. Once the monkeys figured out we had food, they came pretty close to us. I got some good shots of them. We stayed up there for about 30 minutes or so before heading down. I carried Nina for the most part on the way down.
While we were doing the walk/hike, Antonia grabbed her beach umbrella and headed down to the beach to find a spot beside the Fan Fest from where we could watch the Argentina game. When we got there, the place was pretty much packed. In the water, hundreds of Argentina fans were singing their usual chants and dancing in the water splashing water all over the place. It was quite a sight. Unfortunately, I did not bring my little camera down to the beach, so that memory stays with me.
I didn’t watch much of the game because I decided to go for a swim. The water seemed a little cooler but still nice, and it was packed with people. It was just nice to cool off in the 32C winter weather. Haha Can you imagine what this place must be like in the peak of summer? The further Argentina goes, the less I cheer for them it seems. At first, I was all about Argentina advancing and me potentially watching them play a few times. Now, being around them more and hearing them chant, and sing and dance, not so much. If there was a way for Messi to
win the World Cup but not with Argentina, I’d take it (after Brazil’s elimination of course). Haha In any case, Argentina beat Belgium 1-0 with an early goal and advanced to the semi-final. They were now waiting for the winner of the remaining quarter-final game between Holland and the surprise of the tournament, Costa Rica.
For the Holland vs Costa Rica game, we went to a nearby restaurant and met up with Bruno’s and Antonia’s friends. There, we had one beer after another, some fried goods and then a delicious burger. We stayed for the entire game, when ended up going to overtime and penalty shootout. In regulation, the game was ok, no team had a clear scoring chance. In contrast, overtime was pretty exciting, with Holland having 2 unbelievable chances at the end and then Costa Rica seemingly having an even better one in the last minute. I’m still not sure how neither scored, but to penalty kicks we went.
At the very end of overtime, Holland’s coach Louis van Gaal did something I had not seen done before: substitute his starting goalie for the backup just for the shootout. I figured he was some sort of
penalty specialist, but that ended up not being the case. I think he was chosen just because he was taller and had longer reach. In the end, he stopped 2 shots and gave Holland the victory. Imagine the pressure on this guy? He has a pretty neat story to tell his kids and grandkids one day I’d say.
After the game, we went home to relax, which is when I put out a few blog entries. I had been behind a few days because of all that was going on here.
Tomorrow, we will visit my favorite soccer club, Fluminense. Hopefully I’ll be able to get Owen and Janel some jerseys. We’ll see. J
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