Ciao Bella

6/20/14

I’m not normally a breakfast person, but I am definitely enjoying the smorgasbord that is breakfast in Brazilian hotels! The endless fruit, cakes, and cheesy breads are AWESOME!

Today is the day Costa Rica plays Italy – we have to beat them!! I am not a fan of Italian soccer. They do not deserve to win anything with the rampant corruption charges they’ve had going on for years. Plus the controversy from the 2006 Final makes it near impossible for me to like them. So, vamos Ticos! [Nick: For those of you who can’t remember, or never knew in the first place, in the 2006 WC Final, Zinedine Zidane, one of the greats, was red carded after head butting Italian Marco Materazzi in extra time ending his illustrious career in a infamy. Materazzi was known as a very dirty player in a dirty team. After the game, it finally came out that Materazzi pulled on Zidane’s shirt, Zidane said “If you want it so much I can give it to you after the game,” to which Materazzi replied, "I prefer the whore that is your sister."]

We grabbed the metro with all the other fans heading to the game, where a group of Ticos promptly began chanting and I noticed Nick was grinning from ear to ear, jumping up and down with excitement. Sadly for him, he’s traveling with a gringa and two Brazilians, so the fervor one would experience by being surrounded by Ticos to share that inner pride and overwhelming joy is slightly out of his reach. Poor Tico L Not to worry though, as soon as we get to the stadium, he will be awash in crazed compatriots and adding his hoarse voice to the din of “oe oe oe.”

Fe, Filipe, Nick & Cat at Recife stadium

 

Brazilian brothers cheering for opposing teams.

Our seats

Players lining up

Team huddle

Joel Campbell doing his thing.

And lucky for us, the game did not disappoint! Costa Rica gloriously held their own against the Italians and scored a fantastic goal to the severe disappointment of the group of Italians sitting next to us. Which was thoroughly entertaining in and of itself. They definitely lived up to the stereotype of angry gesticulating and shouting, shaking of arms with pinched fingers, and the caricature cadence of an Italian accent. (“Mama Mia”!). [Nick: I tried to take a picture of the middle-aged Italian man raising his arm in the FU symbol and crying out “Mama Mia!” – and other things which I am sure were worse but we could not fully understand – but I didn’t want that anger directed at us J] The funny thing was that the three grown men were accompanied by an eight year old boy, one of their sons most likely, who didn’t say a word and didn’t appear to move once during the entire game. He looked like he was completely disinterested in the game and wished he could be anywhere else but there. Which seemed very out of place amongst the roaring crowd – poor kid. [Nick: I guess, how can the real World Cup compete when the players in FIFA video game can do 16 bicycle kick goals in a game.]

  

But who cares – WE WON!!! (Goodbye Italy!) Ticos beat their second former world champion in a beautifully executed game! I think even the players were surprised by their win, as many of them fell to their knees (praying, crying or both?) and hugging each other in pure elation and celebration. They also graciously walked over to the stands where a large group of Costa Ricans were seated, both sides of the field clapping and cheering each other on. It was a beautiful gesture. 

José Miguel Cubero celebrating

Costa Rican fans

The whole team celebrating with Costa Rican fans.

Nick was out of his mind happy, ignoring the soreness of his cheeks from him permagrin. What’s funny to me is that, normally when we travel, Nick is a semi-celebrity simply due to his height. Locals (outside of Europe at least) often giggle at his towering stature and ask to take pictures with him simply because he’s freakishly tall for their region. [Nick: In Nepal people would want to touch my head. But there, just being a white person made us semi-celebrities in some areas.] But here in Brazil, it’s his Costa Rican-ness that makes him prime photo op material. Since the Costa Rican team has surprised everyone with their success in the Cup so far, anyone (that’s not Uruguayan or Italian) that sees him at the game – sporting his national shirt, hat, and flag – stops him and asks for a picture (granted his height probably still makes him stand out in a crowd and an easy beacon to spot). Had I had the foresight, I should have started documenting all the photos he’s taken with strangers – it would have made quite the photo album. ;o)

Ticos Won!!

Brazilians wanting a picture with the Costa Rican flag. 

Even Jesus came to the game.

The line waiting for the bus to take us back to town.

With stars in our eyes and exhaustion in our bodies, we spent the remainder of the night on a couch in the hotel restaurant watching the Ecuador v. Honduras game. (Yay Ecuador!) It was actually the perfect place to watch a game – we had the place almost completely to ourselves and they had set up two couches and a coffee table right in front of a giant projector screen. It was just like watching a game at home. We were in heaven! The only downside was having ordered a cheeseburger that eerily tasted like a hot dog. Another food choice about which my stomach was not pleased. But who cares, Ticos WON!! [Nick: We set up the Costa Rican flag and the waiter smiled, also pleased for us. It was amazing to see the Ticos make history. Now if they can only win 1^st in the group so I don’t have to completely change my itinerary. I made all our travel plans assuming we’d be following the 1^st place out of the group.]