Special Guest

6/23/14

Today is a very exciting day: Sam, one of our good friends from college, is meeting us in BH to join us for the Costa Rica v. England game! She is a huge England fan but, considering she knows they’re out of the Cup, she too just hoped for a good match. Today is also a big day because it’s the first day of 3^rd round matches. We decided to check out the Fan Fest in BH and watch the games from there. To our great surprise the Fan Fest was indoors, with air conditioning and a decent place to stand without getting crushed – jack pot! The first game, Netherlands v. Chile (no one was even paying attention to the Australia v. Spain game), was ridiculous – Chile takes WAY too many dives. It’s a horrible thing to watch and I hope they are eliminated soon. It’s pathetic that at this level – the World Cup – players are still such drama queens, incapable of playing a decent game without trying to trick the refs into free kicks and penalties. Ugh, it’s the WORST part of soccer. If you fall down with arms and legs flailing, mouth open wide and eyes searching for the ref, you’re bullshitting. Plain and simple. The sad part is when the ref falls for it. Chile was entertaining for the sheer number of mohawks the team was sporting (which seems to be THE hairstyle of the players this year – Nick thinks this is a bad idea, as the Mohawk would somehow alter the aerodynamics of heading the ball) and Alexis Sanchez’s short shorts. I don’t know why, but for some reason, Chile’s Sanchez  would stop and tuck his shorts into his underwear every chance he got. Does he prefer playing in speedos? Not sure.

BH Fan Fest

But, I digress. The highlight of the day was the Brazil v. Cameroon game and by that time, the Fan Fest was PACKED! We were lucky during the first game to score room for the three of us to stand at the back of the sound system area – a fenced off square of floor space that afforded us short people (me and Sam) a clear view of the tv screen with no one in front of us to block our view. It was excellent…but it was also prime real estate. So for the two hours in between matches, Sam and I sat on the floor, legs stretched out to save our spots while Nick went to fetch us drinks. It was a challenge, as the arena was getting crowded as more and more Brazilians showed up to watch the game (so many kids had Neymar’s haircut, it was hysterical!). But we held our ground despite the evil looks we got (“pincha gringas”, I’m sure they were thinking). [Nick: They had a band that played Brazilian ska and rock music between games. They were pretty good and the crowd seemed to know and sing along with every song. Some of the songs had dances that went with them. It was fun to see the Brazilians dance in coordination.]

BH Fan Fest Concert

The game – and the crowd – did not disappoint! From what we gather, Brazilians love their team but have been kind of frustrated in their performance so far. Brazil scored a self-goal during their first match and tied with Mexico for their second (Ochoa was so impressive!), so they really wanted their team to knock it out of the park for the 3^rd round. And fortunately for Brazil, they did! Obviously Cameroon was not favored to advance in their group but they gave Brazil a good challenge and Brazil shined that night! The crowd went insane with every goal and the entire Fan Fest erupted in cheers and dancing bodies – it was awesome! All the elation and good cheer was infectious and we were so happy for our Brazilian friends – finally, their team had lived up to the pressure and expectations for them to show the World the beautiful game of Brazilian soccer.

You can only imagine the Savassi street party we returned to when we got back to our hotel. And of course, we had to join in! We grabbed some street off (literally sandwiches being sold out of the back of someone’s truck) and $2 beers, and waited in line to be seated at (you guessed it) a pizza restaurant for dinner. Pizza is served very differently here in Brazil. You don’t just order a pie and it comes to your table for you to devour all together. You have this option but it’s really not the norm. Instead, you select several different flavors of pizza you would like to try and the waiter brings around an entire pie from time to time and offers you a slice of your choice. He rotates and returns with different pizzas whenever they’re fresh out of the kitchen. A running tab of which and how many slices you’ve had is kept at the table and it’s pretty much an all you can buffet of different pizzas, where you pay by the slice. Not a bad idea, and a great way to try different flavors, but holy crap, you fill up fast! [Nick: This is called “rodizio” and they use the same system in Brazilian pizzerias in the US.] The highlight of dinner, however, was in discussing the potential outcomes of the Final. We decided that the best match would be Brazil v. Argentina. And since Nick already agreed to get his hair cut like Neymar if Brazil wins, Sam and I finagled him into agreeing to get a Messi haircut if Argentina wins. I’m sure part of Nick is rooting for Argentina now ;o) [Nick: I was suckered. But luckily Costa Rica will win and I won’t have a silly haircut. Though, really, Messi’s is pretty normal. Neymar looks like Woody Woodpecker moved to Beverly Hills and must now get tacky blond tips to fit in.]

 

Savassi after Brazil's win

We returned to our hotel room, where Sam and I proceeded to have an ‘80s dance party, courtesy of YouTube, while Nick immediately passed out. It was a great day and we were so happy to have Sam here with us on our trip! If only the DJ’s in the street would call it quits earlier than 3am and we could get some friggin’ sleep!