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Published: June 22nd 2006
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Things are tense
The match wasn't all smooth sailing I was always excited about the prospect of being in Brasil during the World Cup, but I never imagined the experience would be so amazing. Brasilians are very patriotic people and nothing seems to bring that out more than futebol (I’m sure you can figure out that is soccer). In the weeks leading up to the World Cup the passion and excitement has become more and more evident. It started with every second person wearing “Brasil” clothing around and about (and what an array exists!) and has accelerated from there. “Copa da mundo” is now a staple component of my limited Portuguese vocabulary and is very useful for striking up conversations with taxi drivers. All of the shops are decorated in green and gold and selling every Brasil product imaginable, there are flags hung from buildings and balconies, there are even television adverts by companies (similar in nature to BHP Billiton) to celebrate the World Cup. I had heard that people don’t work when Brasil plays and this was affirmed when we received an official memo the week before the first Brasil game telling us we could leave work at 3pm as the match began at 4pm. A direction that I
dared not disobey!!
Importantly for us Australia are in the World Cup and in Brasil’s group, making matters even more interesting. Australia’s first match against Japan was at 10am in the morning here. Not willing to miss out on the opportunity of seeing our boys play we sought out a venue near the office (not particularly easy when the match is that early and Brasil aren’t involved). We went to Auto Mall (where else?). A large car showroom over two levels, the lower level has a small place serving the standard buffet lunch with a seating area that has a tv - excellent!!! About 8 of us went to watch the game and we were ready to go once we had used our best Portuguese to explain why we were there and had managed to get the television turned on (“Copa da mundo” coming in handy again!).
We clearly intrigued the people working at Auto Mall, particularly when we had the mexican wave happening. Unfortunately the first half wasn’t all that inspiring and there was a multitude of coaching advice coming from the floor. As I’m sure you know things really started looking up at the end of
Warming up
The Aussie contingent getting ready for the match. the second half and we certainly made a lot of noise celebrating the three late goals scored by the Aussies to beat Japan 3-1.
We returned to the office feeling very proud of ourselves and a number of the locals started to get a bit concerned about needing to score a few goals against Croatia. I was happy as regardless of anything else Australia were going to maintain top position in Group F for 24 hours!
Tuesday arrived and there was a bit of buzz around the place, this was the day Brasil were due to make their debut in the 2006 World Cup. We had already seen plenty of the Brasilians on the television in the lead up. I know that is not exactly surprising, but the coverage of the team is to the extent where even at times during the Aussie match there was a small window on the bottom corner of the screen with a live cross to the team sitting in a circle stretching in preparation for their training session. Scintillating viewing!
3pm came around (one hour before kick-off) and there was a mass exodus from the office. About 70 of us were
going to a bar 5 minutes walk from the office, others were going to join parties with their families and friends, but everyone was going to watch the game. The streets were packed with people on their way to watch the match, car horns were honking, hooters were blowing and flags being waved. The feeling in the air was truly electric as we made our way amongst the sea of green and gold.
The bar was deceptively large; the small façade you see from the road does not alert you to the dual level, sizable building behind. We had an area reserved in front of a large projector screen and dressed in our green and gold shirts (included in the small entry fee), beer in hand we were all set for a big afternoon. The beer situation in most bars follows a similar system, when you enter upon showing your identification you receive a card (and god forbid if you lose it) on which all of your food and drinks are recorded. What this means is that you don’t have to go to the bar, you stay put and the beers come to you! Due to the number of
A local? I don't think so!
Who are you trying to kid? people there waiters walk around with trays of drinks, you take what you want, have your card marked off and happy campers all around. You also don’t have to worry about ending up with a pocket full of change as you settle the bill at the door when you leave.
Anyway, back to the futebol. The crowd was ‘relatively’ quiet during the match due to their annoyance at Brasil’s somewhat poor performance. The celebration of the goal and subsequent final result however were not so quiet. Post match the music started and we stayed and danced and celebrated in true Brasilian fashion. You really would never have guessed it was a Tuesday night!
Now there are a few worried Brasilian’s around the place. Not convinced by their teams’ performance they are nervous about Sunday’s game. Personally I don’t think the Aussies will win (even though I would love them to), but it certainly makes for good banter. I am also happy we remain top of the group - we will definitely have that position for almost a whole week!!
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