Football, more Football, and only occasional Sweating

We have now settled in to our World Cup routine and have been catching up on the televised games, and fitting in the odd spot of relaxing when we can. It’s always the same for the first 3 weeks of the World Cup, with 3 matches a day that we could watch, it’s a fine balance between which games, where, and how are we going to fit our meals in around them. Over the years we have expanded our list of teams that we actively follow from just England & USA, to now include Australia, (acting as a de facto New Zealand if they don’t make it to the tournament), and Germany, (when David is with us). We also have our favourite teams to watch, like Argentina, Brazil, Holland and Spain, which means that in the first 3 weeks of the competition, we are watching a hell of a lot of TV. Oh yeah, and don’t forget the occasional live game we are having to attend....

But we have managed to fit in a few things over the past 3 days, including walking on the jetty’s that protrude

out into the sea at regular points along the city waterfront, we have paddled in the ocean on the beach right outside our apartment, and we did visit the FIFA Fan Fest & Shop. On a less interesting front, we know where the supermarket is, a local bar with good TV access and a mean Egg & Bacon, and we have got our bearings on the streets and bars around us. The temperatures are still up in the late 20’s but the humidity is not quite so bad, so sweating is not the full-time profession that it was for the first few days we were here. We have not yet managed to have a day without reasonable quantities of alcohol, and I have had my first MASSIVE hangover after failing to get a meal at a restaurant, and drinking ALL the caprihina’s....!

Yesterday we went to see Brazil take on Mexico at the stadium here in Fortaleza. Based upon our previous experience and the fact that we wanted to watch the Belgium v Algeria game that was on immediately before our game, we left the city early ensuring seats on the bus, (a definite plus), and went to our little bar close to the stadium. Several thousand other people had the same idea, and the bus trip was a rowdy affair with banter and singing going on between the 2 sets of fans on the bus. When we arrived at the bar there was a bunch of locals that had rocked up with some instruments and were entertaining the drinkers with a wild array of local songs, with a few Mexican classics thrown in when a group of Mexican supporters came by. We sat there for an hour before the Belgium game started, and for the whole of the first & half of the second half, with them belting out some fine tunes, some of which we could sing along with. There was a great atmosphere developing....

Once Belgium had safely dispatched the Algerians, we left the bar and headed the short distance on towards the Stadium itself. By this time there were even more people around us, either in the green & gold of Brazil, or in the green & red of Mexico, all of them in high spirits in anticipation of a key World Cup match before them. I must at this point applaud the Mexicans for turning up in such numbers, it seemed that there was almost as many of them as there were local Brazilians, and as we made our way in to the stadium through the usual checkpoints and ticket checks, the mood was very upbeat and fun. I can’t imagine going to see England v Germany at Wembley and seeing English fans serenading the Germans with the occasional German folk song and some light hearted banter.

By the time we took up our places in the 60,000 seater stadium, it must have been somewhere close to full, with a sea of gold shirts stretched out before us. To the far right and left there were vast sections of the crowd in the distinctive green shirts of Mexico, who were making their presence known with their various songs and chants. The Brazilians tried to give as good as they got, but I would have to hand victory in the chanting stakes to the well coordinated and load Mexicans. In the competition for best rendition of a National Anthem, Brazil really came into their own, with every Brazilian in the place giving it everything they had and belting it out in fine style, even when the music seemed to stop halfway through. So it was finely balanced between the competing nations, well before a ball was kicked....

As many of you will know, it was a tense & stressful game with plenty of action at both ends and the passions of the crowd were raised by incident after incident. The chanting & shouting of each set of fans was not only deafening, but well coordinated with the action on the pitch. Both sets of fans roundly abused their corresponding opposition goal keepers when taking goal kicks, with a chant that built to a crescendo that culminated with the shout of “Burro” (donkey in English). Most amusing.... As the game progressed, the dogged defence of the Mexicans, and especially their goalkeeper who had the game of his life, and the limited amount of real attacking flair from the Brazilians, led to an inevitable nil-nil draw. Don’t get me wrong, it had been a great game full of excitement and chances, but at the end of the day, I suspect that the Mexicans went home the happier, whilst the Brazilians may have been a little disappointed. Still we all seemed to enjoy the experience which was one of the best in 24 years of attending World Cups....

Today we are communing with the couch, waiting for the maid to show up to make us breakfast and planning where to watch the Australia v Holland game. Later we’ll probably spend some time sun-bathing, or take a swim and then decide where to have dinner and maybe catch the Spain game. As I say, this World Cup lark is hard work, let me tell you, but someone has to do it......