Let\’s call it footie fatigue. Two games a day for 10 days, some in person, others in the Fanzones, all of them in Brazil, will test your resolve. After Sunday\’s Copacabana Brazil:Chile madness, much of the oomph has gone and Rio feels more as I imagine it does when the Cup
isn\’t in town.
Groups of guys walk around, no longer asking where you from or where you been but what are you doing till the next game. Suddenly football fans have become regular tourists, ascending the stairway to heaven; visiting Christo: strolling the beaches. Some even taking guided tours of the favelas, Rio\’s poor shanty towns – we\’re told it was very humbling but a tour if others misery didn\’t appeal. Shamefully we prefer not to think about it!
But fear not! This is the time to man-up, stay the course and meet our commitments. We haven\’t missed a game. In fact after touring the Christo yesterday our very helpful taxi driver directed us to a bar, The Belmonte ( shades of Ayr, huh, for those that know) couple blocks off Ipanema. The locals watch the game here and is another example to always trust your concierge/taxi driver. Great food, great atmosphere, great fun!
I met another Scots lad here. Interestingly a former N Sea oil rig worker from Inverness who moved to Rio with his Brazilian girlfriend and now works the rigs offshore here.
I had my orange shirt on so was glad when Sneijder\’s piledriver leveled the score. What a hit – my chances of hitting the target were I to flail at a ball like that, are effectively nil. And yes, regardless of his normal penchant for flopping, on that occasion Robben was fouled. It was a penalty! In case you\’re wondering UK – flopping is what the US calls diving and I think better describes the pansies what do it! Holland just about deserved it but it wasn\’t convincing.
After a short walk along the beach, noting the Brazilian ball jugglers discussed in the blog yesterday, we found a bar to watch Costa Rica: Greece. This was one those, man up and watch it, call yourself a footie fan, you\’re here in Brazil, so you\’d better wake up and watch kind of games. Our only connection to this game being that Dave always supports CONCACAF and that both countries figure on Elaine\’s list of top holiday destinations. In the end I was kind of happy Costa Rica won as the Greek cynicism and lack of invention got tiring after a while.
And so today, the last of our trip, we manned up yet again, and, after the Boys from Brazil kicked one last ball on Copacabana we settled in for France:Nigeria, another of those man up and watch it, call yourself a footie fan etc etc games. So we did. Interestingly the beach footie continues behind us with several Blues preferring to play than watch.
So our final walk along Copacobana killing time before Germany Algeria and the cab ride to the airport. Dave, a more rabid American Outlaw than I would have ever guessed, was several times offered tickets to USA: Belgium in Salvador tomorrow. The tickets themselves weren\’t outrageous, but the roundtrip to Salvador and the explanation to his wife were. So after divine consultation, he declined.
So here we are, our last hour at Copa, the game in progress (with some very impressive moves from Algeria) but with lots of fans, the ones who didn\’t man-up, including some Germans, walking the pavement, paying scant attention to the game. I think a different kind of fan is moving in. Planning the trip we wondered if it was better to come early and see a few group games or later for a big game, the semi final, it maybe even the final. Thankfully we chose the former. The congregation of nations. The real World Cup where the football was frenetic and the party incredible. Now we\’re at the Round of 16 where sudden death drives a fear of losing over an expectation of winning. Very tactical, somewhat subdued and, by comparison, a little dull. Kind of like the atmosphere here tonight. Or maybe it\’s just footie fatigue!
What! Scotland Qualified!!! 