The World Cup in Brazil 2014
I’m sure nearly everybody watching the semifinal game
between Germany and Brazil on July 8, 2014 experienced a similar feeling of
shock and awe about midway through the first half. We could analyze forever why
and how this happened and still not really understand or believe it. As
somebody who experienced the excitement and disappointment throughout the past
week, I’d like to share my take on Brazilian’s engagement with the World Cup,
before and after this horrendous match.
I arrived in Salvador, Bahia on July 3, 2014. My plane was
completely full, the Miami airport was decorated with FIFA paraphernalia, kids
were juggling soccer balls in the gates. We were all going to arrive in Brazil
right in time for the quarterfinals. Brazil had just beaten Chile in overtime
with penalty kicks, and was still fairly strong in the competition. Everywhere
I turned there were Brazilian flags, uniforms, green and yellow decorations,
FIFA stickers and plaques. There was no escaping the World Cup—nearly everybody
was wearing, representing, or talking about it in some way or another.
Despite these displays of excitement, I wondered how this
compared to other World Cups, independent of Brazil being the host country.
Because I’m from the U.S., I don’t have a frame of reference for ostentatious
national pride in international soccer competitions. What do I know, maybe people
put Brazilian flags on their cars, outside their houses and businesses for
every World Cup and root for their teams just as intensely, whether in South
Africa, Europe or in their own country? Because unless you’re directly in contact with a host city, a game, or in close
proximity to a stadium, it appears to me that being Brazilian doesn’t privilege
you at all for this World Cup (after the semifinal game it is actually just
embarrassing...). The only way main difference I see is the incredible media
coverage of the events and public responses to them. Every time you turn on the
television somebody is commenting upon a game, a player, a host city, a
protest, a party, etc. The commentators and programs are nonstop, serving as a
way of rallying the country around soccer and their national team (especially
around the martyr Neymar—but I’ll get to that later). This is especially
necessary after the incredible resistance to FIFA and the Federal Government’s
management of public funds to pull of this World Cup.
Despite the protests from July 2013 during the
Confederations Cup and June 2014 in anticipation for the beginning of the
World Cup, once the games began it most people, militant
activists or not, stopped their screaming and fighting, bought some beer, put
on a jersey, called up some friends or went down to the local bar and cheered
for their team. (A study done by “Globo”, the conservative media monopoly in Brazil, said
that something like 70% of Brazilians supported the World Cup after it began,
compared to around 40% before it started). I
don’t mean to suggest that protests were not real or valid, they absolutely
were. And it's important to note that the Federal Government declared that anybody protesting during the World Cup would receive 30 years in jail, an order that can only come from a near-dictatorial state. But as commentator John Oliver pointed out on his political show,
football is like organized religion. You can hate and love FIFA at the same
time for doing what's necessary to pull off such a spectacular event-- uniting
the best players in the world and administrating it all despite local
complications, regional differences, and logistical nightmares. However, in order to do so they'll crush anything in their path.
The quarterfinal match Brazil x Columbia was on a Friday
afternoon, and spirits were high. I went to the “FIFA Fan Fest” at the Barra
Lighthouse in Salvador to check out the scene. It’s basically a huge stage and
screen set up by FIFA in strategic spots around major cities to encourage
collective viewing and partying. They had a full line up of local musical
celebrities, and security at the entrance with FIFA’s own police force checking
for weapons to ensure the viewers’ safety. It was an impressive operation, and
certainly a festive one. It seems from the games and the celebrations that
Brazil successfully attracted a huge tourist presence. And why not? Brazil has
so much to offer to tourists, first of all its incredible nonstop seductive
party hard attitude, not to mention its beautiful beaches, delicious food and natural wonders. I’m almost certain nothing productive has gotten done
throughout this World Cup season to really advance Brazil in any way. I only
hope some people made good money off the tourists. Though even if some did, it’s
nothing near a majority.
I stayed at the Fan Fest just for a portion of the Germany x France game,
knowing that it would get ridiculously crazy and crowded during the Brazil
game. I went to a friend’s house with good food, drinks and company to watch
the game, which was great fun and a very positive atmosphere. With a quick goal in the first
half, we all felt good about Brazil’s chances to continue on. We cheered and
hugged and danced for each goal, opened beers and passed drinks merrily.
Until Tiago Silva, the Brazilian team’s captain, got his
second yellow card and at the bottom of the screen appeared a notice that he wouldn’t appear in
the next game. I don’t think we quite understood the severity of that absence
until the 7-1 loss, especially since this small blip was vastly overshadowed by
Neymar’s upcoming injury.
So... in my opinion, Neymar had been flopping and getting
fouled all over the place the entire competition. He hasn’t been playing his
best, nor has the entire Brazilian team. All in all, I think Brazilians and
their sympathizers have been pretty disappointed despite their wins. So much so
that I (and probably others) have started to come up with conspiracy theories
about the outcome of games to appease and please which parties. Conspiracies
aside, Neymar’s injury had some very critical effects and outcome for the
Brazilian team, and its supporters...
When Neymar went down, I wasn’t surprised or particularly
worried. He seemed to always put on a painful show to sell the foul. Of course
the medical team would come out right away for their best player and take him
off the field in a stretcher –just in case. When he didn’t come back in the
game I just figured it was because they were obviously winning and it was
better for him to recuperate. I honestly couldn’t imagine that he would be so
injured as to not return for the rest of the World Cup.
When the Globo announcers stated with great remorse that
Neymar would not be returning, we were all shocked and I think deep down knew
that Brazil was screwed for the next game. Neymar has become Brazil’s soccer
superstar, scoring the most goals and dancing around nearly any defender with
grace. He has been the face of commercials, figurines, and the most sold
jersey. Even before he went down I noticed that nearly everybody was wearing
#10 with Neymar Jr. to celebrate their favorite player.
With this tragedy, the media went wild. I can’t tell you how
many times I saw the clip of him getting hit in the back and falling on the
ground, his leg twitching and his face wailing with pain. It was as if that
moment were the biggest tragedy and the most relevant event of the century, to be discussed nonstop. We heard from his doctor, clips and updates from his
treatment, animated replays and diagrams of his injury. Neymar produced videos
for the “Brazilian people” to rally them for the semifinal game. Globo
published polls and opinions from people optimistic about the team’s future. There
were multiple interviews with the head coach to determine the new line up, the
new strategy without Neymar and the team’s captain. We were told to play the game
“for Neymar”, to honor his absence with a win that would put Brazil in the
final match at the Rio de Janeiro stadium Maracanã.
These 3 days of media overload successfully brainwashed
viewers into believing that the Brazilian team had a chance to win the
semifinal game. We got ready for the game same way as the quarterfinals
–elaborate costumes with Brazil’s colors, flags, businesses closing at noon on
a Tuesday, friends and family gathering to watch the game, bars and FIFA Fan
Fest filling up in anticipation with excited, drunk supporters. During the warm
up Tiago Silva, the captain, roamed in and out of field in his street clothes,
there to support his team and encourage them through the game. During Brazil’s
national anthem David Luiz and Cesar (the golie) held Neymar’s jersey in
solidarity. People were crying with pride and cheering with all their heart.
It’s with this all this build up that we, Brazilians and
their supporters, experienced the greatest deception with a 5-0 first half and
a 7-1 final score. After the 3rd goal I knew it was over, but
couldn’t imagine how bad it could get. It was as if the team had gaping holes
that the German players could just poke through with no problem, and Cesar couldn’t
stop a single shot from entering the goal. After the 5th goal it
became clear the score could be astronomically, embarrassingly high—a blowout
of proportions never before witnessed in World Cup history.
How could this happen in the host country? Hadn’t Dilma and
the Federal Government successfully bought out the refs or other teams to
ensure peace and contentment for the Brazilian people, after they had dealt with
the terrible consequences of building stadiums, redirecting resources, and
nearly bankrupting local funds to put on the World Cup for a foreign audience?
And if they didn’t, why did the global media manipulate us into thinking that,
without Neymar and Tiago Silva, the Brazilian team even had a chance? Maybe,
just maybe, it’s related to the fact that Globo –the media monopoly in
Brazil—is against Dilma and her party PT, maybe they wanted Brazilians to be so
disappointed and upset with the outcome of the World Cup they will surely vote
Dilma out during the upcoming October elections... Or maybe Germany is just an
incredibly strong team and will easily beat Argentina for the title? Maybe
Neymar is really hurt and can’t play, maybe he needs to recuperate despite the
fact he’s now walking no problem and after the media ploy, has become a bigger star and
more important Brazilian figure than ever...
I could go on about my ideas of conspiracy, because it’s
hard for me to imagine that these turn of events were, in some way, without
planning. There is too much money exchanging big hands. But all of that aside,
this is where we’re at with Brazil in the World Cup. I am shocked and nervous
that the Brazilian team has to play for 3rd place this coming Saturday.
I only hope this time the team and the coach realize the gravity of their
situation and revise their game plan to at least put on a respectful loss for 4th
place. Who knows, maybe they’ll surprise us. Maybe with their captain Tiago
Silva back in the mix, a few substitutions, and a more realistic attitude they’ll
pull of a win for 3rd place. In any case, that semifinal game will
surely go down in soccer history as the biggest upset and embarrassment for any
host country—or probably any country at all.
Yesterday everybody was talking about the game as if it were
a bad dream. Most were just laughing in deception, as if to throw their hands
up in the air and say, “Look at our joke of a country!” Supposedly the “country
of football” Brazil is now an international embarrassment, what do they have now? With heads in
between their legs, remorsefully heading home, getting back to work, and simply
pushing through it like the innumerous other challenges of being Brazilian because
despite it all, “a vida continua”. Life goes on...
And now I root for Argentina. VIVA AMÉRICA LÁTINA!!!
