Day 124
Rio, Brazil
Brazil e penta! The cry of Brazillian football...or soccer as we Americans call it. But, you really cant say you have experienced Brazil when you did not attend a football game. Plus we figured the boys (big and small) would love it.....so we bought tickets to Sunday's game of two local rivals Team Flamengo and Team Vasco. Turns out us girls LOVED it too!
I have to admit, walking into the world famous
Macacana Staduim in Rio was intoxicating. The military police with AK-47s greet you as you walk in.....crowd control is important....Barzilians take their soccer very seriously. Up in the stands the energy is intense. The game itself is certainly exciting, but the real action in in the grandstands where opposing fans fill opposite sides of the staduim, chanting, yelling, waving flags, setting off fire works, singing, dancing....and sometimes crying. When their team does badly, they yell at each other as if the guy sitting next to them was the actual player who missed the goal. 
When a big play is being awaited....they jump and dance and yell so loudly you can feel the massive concrete stadium waiver up and down under the power of thousands moving at once. The best way I can describe it to say it is a sea of energy.
Such a thrill of mesmerizing proportion that it leaves your heart beating, your butt shaking, and your throat in the pit of your stomach.
We decided to vote for Vasco (the white team)...because we were surrounded by their fans and somewhat afraid to be happy for the other side. I must say.... we actually got really into it! By the end, I honestly cared how our team was doing.
The plays were exciting. The movement so high paced. The boys so young and yet under so much pressure. And it really can be vicious. We must have seen 6 or more players flip up in the air, come down on their heads, and be removed on stretchers. But, the game barely skips a beat. 
And alas, now we have experienced true Brazilian sadness because after a 1/1 tie....our team lost in the final shoot out.
We stayed in the stands until the stadium cleared (as we had been advised to avoid the fights that tend to break out after the game) and then cheered up as we headed back to our van. It was easily voted one of the highlights of our trip.
Rio, Brazil
Brazil e penta! The cry of Brazillian football...or soccer as we Americans call it. But, you really cant say you have experienced Brazil when you did not attend a football game. Plus we figured the boys (big and small) would love it.....so we bought tickets to Sunday's game of two local rivals Team Flamengo and Team Vasco. Turns out us girls LOVED it too!
I have to admit, walking into the world famous
Macacana Staduim in Rio was intoxicating. The military police with AK-47s greet you as you walk in.....crowd control is important....Barzilians take their soccer very seriously. Up in the stands the energy is intense. The game itself is certainly exciting, but the real action in in the grandstands where opposing fans fill opposite sides of the staduim, chanting, yelling, waving flags, setting off fire works, singing, dancing....and sometimes crying. When their team does badly, they yell at each other as if the guy sitting next to them was the actual player who missed the goal. 
When a big play is being awaited....they jump and dance and yell so loudly you can feel the massive concrete stadium waiver up and down under the power of thousands moving at once. The best way I can describe it to say it is a sea of energy.Such a thrill of mesmerizing proportion that it leaves your heart beating, your butt shaking, and your throat in the pit of your stomach.
We decided to vote for Vasco (the white team)...because we were surrounded by their fans and somewhat afraid to be happy for the other side. I must say.... we actually got really into it! By the end, I honestly cared how our team was doing.
The plays were exciting. The movement so high paced. The boys so young and yet under so much pressure. And it really can be vicious. We must have seen 6 or more players flip up in the air, come down on their heads, and be removed on stretchers. But, the game barely skips a beat. 
And alas, now we have experienced true Brazilian sadness because after a 1/1 tie....our team lost in the final shoot out.
We stayed in the stands until the stadium cleared (as we had been advised to avoid the fights that tend to break out after the game) and then cheered up as we headed back to our van. It was easily voted one of the highlights of our trip.
posted by The Herald Family at 9:39 AM
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