So it's all over! In case this blog is your only source of information on Brazil (please please diversify a bit if this is the case!), the country is no longer in the running for the world cup, and was defeated by the Netherlands yesterday. A commenter asked me to provide some perspective on the general mood of Brazilians here...
Yesterday when the game ended I was on the beach in Leblon, having watched the first half at home. Firecrackers went off signaling the end of the game, which I was keeping up with in real time on my blackberry.
Rio went quiet. Traffic slowly increased but the normal horns and hubbub where nowhere to be seen or heard. A group of fans dressed in yellow and green huddled closely together and slowly meandered up and down the promenade quietly. Mr. DRL and I were out and about last night and people were out, many still in jerseys, but it was generally quite quiet. Click here for a gallery of raw emotion on Copacabana.
As far as answering the question about who's to blame? This is kind of funny. Well, everyone from Paulo Coelho to my nanny is blaming Mick Jagger. Yes, you read that right. He professed his support for the USA, then England, then Brazil. Many Brazilians are blaming him. And also now asking him to throw his support behind Argentina. Even OGlobo is reporting on the Jagger jinx. It's apparently one of the biggest topics on Twitter right now too.
Taking the heat off the rolling stone, Dunga, Brazil's coach, says the biggest responsibility for the loss falls on himself.
A conspiracy theory also exists, well, at least in the taxi we were in - our driver last night had another theory about the root cause of yesterday's loss. He claims that he has proof from ITAU (a bank in Brazil) that the Brazilian players were paid to throw the game. Ok then.
So what happens now? According to my baba, many Brazilians will now cheer for Germany.
Sadly, the Dutch Consulate was attacked by some misguided disappointed fans after the game yesterday, and the consul himself was injured on the hand by an explosive. Disgusting. He is obviously quite a big person though and is downplaying the incident, which you can read about here.
As a quick aside and follow up to yesterday's post about the commercial side of World Cup - I found this article online and had to laugh at the quote about business declining by 50% during games where Brazil is playing. Um, 50%? Really? Because I could have sworn it would be more like 100%. Literally everything shuts down. It should not come as a surprise to these business owners... you can't make money if your doors are closed, people!
Good news, funny news, sad news, silly news aside, what it all comes down to for me.... Though it would have been wonderful to experience Brazil winning the world cup here, it was fun while it lasted and inspiring to witness the passion of the people and their love for the game. It will now make it all the more sweet for Brazil to win in 2014 on home turf.
Too funny. Mick Jagger!
Posted by: SeattleSchmitt | July 03, 2010 at 12:38 PM
Seattle Times video of Brazilians watching the game at Tempero do Brasil (restaurant in Seattle). I wasn't there. I would have been crying my eyes out at the end.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/flatpages/video/mediacenterbc3.html?bcpid=30884189001&bclid=0&bctid=107228879001
Posted by: SeattleSchmitt | July 03, 2010 at 02:49 PM
Surprisingly, PLENTY of Brazilians were supporting Argentina though. I've seen quite a few people walking on the streets with Messi shirts.
Brazil and Argentina have a weird relationship though. It's kind of like a brother-sister thing, you know? We love each other but are always fighting for silly things. No wonder people in Brazil call Argentina our "hermanos" (brothers).
Posted by: Andre | July 03, 2010 at 06:34 PM