Another World Cup has come and gone. I am just starting to come out of my post-cup funk. I felt a little down a couple of days after the final game, which saw Spain defeat Holland 1-0 to take the trophy. The World Cup comes around every four years, and now I have to wait another four years. I enjoy just about everything concerning the World Cup: the games, the countries, the uniforms, the players, the fans, the stadiums, the color, the pageantry...I could have done without the vuvuzelas, but oh well..
I also have many teams for which to root. I like to think I enjoy the tournament better this way:
United States of America. The home team, New World.
The United States of America was a nice surprise. They played well despite going up against some questionable officiating and impressively held their own. The game against Ghana was a nail biter as was most of their group matches. (Although England x USA hardly lived up to the billing as the next Revolutionary War). As a result of this good showing, some teams abroad have been showing interest in American star, Landon Donovan. The USA is still a small player in the world of world football, but the game is growing in the US, on the pitch and in the stands.
Italy. The home team, Old World.
The team I was counting on to bring me some semblance of the same jubilation I felt in 2006 – Italy – was unceremoniously bounced out of the tournament. The defending champions failed not only to advance beyond the group rounds, they could not even muster a single victory. In the last game for the azzurri against a superior Slovakian side, which they lost 3-2, I was moved by the image of team leader and captain of the 2006 world champions, Fabio Cannavaro helping up off the pitch his crying teammate and best player for Italy, Fabio Quagliarella. Both Cannavaro and Quagiarella are from the city of Napoli. In fact, Quagliarella plays professionally for Napoli alongside Cannavaro´s brother Paolo. As I watched the two men walk off the field, I thought that perhaps as children playing in Napoli, Cannavaro had helped up Quagliarella a few times before. And in this surprisingly disappointing tournament for the Italian side, once again Cannavaro had to comfort Quagliarella. Like old times.
Andiamo, Quag. Lasciamo per andare a casa...
Photo by Stefano Rellandini, Reuters
While I am not Japanese, half my family is, and thus I support the family. Japan did very well making it to the Round of 16 before being eliminated by penalties to an equally impressive Paraguay squad. Keisuke Honda made a name for himself in world football with his stellar playmaking ability as did Japan´s goalkeeper, Eiji Kawashima, who made a number of clutch saves to keep Japan rolling along in the tournament.
Brazil
Who doesn´t like Brazil? (Argentina need not reply)
Big things were expected for Brazil. The battle cry in the country before and during the tournament was “HEXA BRASIL”. It was on advertisements, bumper stickers and tshirts. I even recall seeing a soccer jersey with “BRASIL HEXA-CAMPEÃO” boldly embroidered on the chest. The team colors - canarinho e verde – were seen everywhere. Nothing short of a sixth World Cup would do. Thy will of the people be done.
Home renovation store Tend Tudo selling more than just pre-fab doors and weed whackers...Brazil was rolling along in the tournament according to coach Dunga's plan, defeating lesser teams along the way, making it easily into the quarter-finals with a 3-0 defeat of a good Chilean team. The Seleção Canarinha seemed destined to advance to the semi-finals and only had to defeat two-time (now 3-time) World Cup bridesmaids Holland to do so.
The day Brazil played Holland happened to fall on July the 2nd. Independence Day in the state of Bahia, which commemorates the victory in Salvador of Brazilian troops against the Portuguese in 1823, helping to unify Brazil and achieve the country´s independence in 1825. It also happened to fall on a Friday with a long weekend of celebration ahead. Even though the weather was gray and rainy, our neighborhood in Ipitanga was alive with pre-game activity – barbecues were smoking, fireworks were exploding, car horns honking, vuvuzelas tooting, children playing, adults predicting.
And you can be sure the rest of the country was doing the exact same thing. As someone who lived in Canada for 15 years and experienced the enthusiasm and passion of Canadian hockey fans (I thought I was a hockey fanatic, but in Canada I had finally met my match. I respectfully tip my stick), I never thought I would see that unbridled enthusiasm surpassed. But then I moved to Brazil.
While big games involving Canada´s national hockey team can cause the country to almost completely shut down, Brazil does shut down for every game involving their team in the World Cup. At Salvador Shopping, a local shopping mall in the city, advertisements were up all around the mall advising that the stores would be closing 30 minutes before and reopening 30 minutes after each game.
That hairdryer you want to exchange? It's just going to have to wait...
(I also witnessed this intense passion for football in Argentina, where everything stopped when the Argentinian side was playing. In fact, we left Argentina the same day the celeste y blanco were playing South Korea. Our flight was delayed by a half hour. As soon as the final whistle blew on a 4-1 Argentina victory, our boarding call was made. Coincidence? I THINK NOT.)
You want to know who is going win? Just ask Angelina
At the final whistle, while Holland celebrated, Brazil – both team and country – stood in disbelief, wondering what had just happened. Our neighborhood, once noisy, celebratory and full of life, was rendered silent. Observing the silence of our bairro:
It's cold outside. The skies are gray. Heavy rain this morning with more on the way. An occasional firecracker goes off. A single vuvuzela groans weakly in the distance. Independence Day in Bahia, yet people go about their business. There is no celebration today. There is no joy in Brazilville.
Shortly after the team arrived back from South Africa, coach Dunga and his staff were relieved of their duties. A search immediately began for a new coach. Soccer is serious business here, and as the next World Cup in 2014 is going to be in Brazil, I'm thinking it is imperative that the elusive sixth cup be won at home. The buck stops here. A repeat of of the 1950 World Cup – the Maracanazo -must be avoided at all costs.
The 1950 tournament, which took place in Brazil, an event that should have been a celebratory coming-out party of sorts for the country, turned into a national tragedy. Having conquered most of the opposition, Brazil only needed to defeat or tie Uruguay to win the championship. And after convincing victories over Sweden (7-1) and Spain (6-1), optimism was running high for a Brazilian victory. Even the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, where the final match was being played, was already talking about the victory parade that would be taking place in his city.
The game was played on July 16, 1950 in Maracanã Stadium. It was estimated that 200,000 fans crammed into the stadium for the final. Brazil scored early in the second half to take a 1-0 lead and everything was going swimmingly (footballingly?) until Uruguay equalized at the 66th minute. Then, with roughly 10 minutes to go in the match, Uruguay took the lead, silencing the 200,000 fans in attendance. When the final whistle blew, the truely unthinkable had happened. Uruguay had won the World Cup and Brazil had lost it. The silence was deafening. The president and founder of FIFA and the World Cup tournament, Jules Rimet, found himself abandoned all alone on the pitch to present the trophy to the victorious Uruguayan squad.
In the days following, the country had difficulty coming to terms with the defeat. To say the country was in shock is not an exaggeration. Many in the media refused to believe they had been defeated, players were vilified, suicides committed. The team´s blue and white uniforms were considered bad luck, and for the next cup a new uniform was designed featuring the famous yellow, green and blue the team wears to this day.
I came across this video presentation created by YouTube viewer, alicon, that tells beautifully the story of the Maracanazo, a word created out of this tragedy from the portuguese, Maracanaço, meaning the Maracanã Blow. The word is now used to refer to victory by the underdog in Maracanã stadium either against the Brazilian squad or any of the four major teams in Rio de Janeiro: Flamengo, Fluminense, Vasco de Gama and Botofogo.
I would like to share more thoughts about soccer in Brazil, as I have started to attend league games here in Salvador, but I shall save it for another day and another blog post.
Sonia and I on the day the USA faced Ghana. 
2 comments:
Great post Lou! Once again your passion for sport and your talent for sports reportage merge into a really engaging read. Although, I feel really bad for old Moacyr now.
There's a song by Al Stewart called Football Hero, not about a goalie but about a -- what do you call them, strikers? -- who misses a shot and loses a game. The lyrics go "many years from now/when his name's recalled/everyone will say/he should have passed the ball". Despite the difference in the play, one might imagine Al was thinking of the Maracanazo when he wrote it, especially since the player is described at one point as "a blur of blue and white."
Thank you, Journeyman. Yes, poor Moacyr. He beared the brunt of the people´s anger most of his life, when really the loss was a full team effort.
You can call them a striker. You can also call them mud if they miss a good chance.
I`m going to have to get reacquainted with Mr. Stewart. That song reminds me of a play I saw during the world cup. Spain vs. Germany. Spain with a 1-0 lead needed a little insurance. Pedro of Spain had a glorious chance to pass the ball to an unmarked Torres, who would have easily made the score 2-0. But Pedro, who had a man on him, opted to try to score himself. He was unceremoniously stripped of the ball and a golden opportunity was lost. As both Torres and Pedro ran back, you could see Pedro apologizing profusely...but of course this was Spain and we all know how they did in the world cup....
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