Before the start of this World Cup, I slated Germany versus Brasil for the Final match, however the bracket lined up such that they met for the semi-final match in Brasilia. Chris and I were at Fan Fest in Rio de Janeiro on Praia Copacabana to watch the match. The Scratch were without their star player Neymar who suffered a spinal injury versus Colombia in the Quarter Finals. I was divided, pulling for my ancestral home of Germany, but also Brasil being the home team. Things got crazy as a storm rolled through. We heard a clap of thunder, pop of some firecrackers, then after Germany scored their 5th goal we heard a gun shot! We all froze, looked around for 2 seconds and heard what we thought was a second shot. After the first person made a run for it, everyone followed and a few minutes of frenzy ensued with drinks flying and sand being kicked up. I think they were just shots fired in the air, but it was scary. Police are everywhere, so things settled down rather quickly but needless to say, we didn’t hang around for the second half.

The next day Chris and I came prepared with drinks and mixers for Rio Fan Fest, but the Argentina x Holland match was more low key. They had only one big screen showing the match so we walked down to a beachside bar to watch on their flat screen tv and mix our vodka and guaiava. We were able to drink the bottle by the time the match was won by Argentina in penalty kicks. Afterwards we joined a group for some sand soccer under the lighted beach. We could not keep up with the mix of talented players from Brasil, Germany, Holland, Colombia and Mexico (again, Mexicans are everywhere!), but we had a lot of fun.

By this time there were already thousands of Argentians in Brasil and tens of thousands more made the trip across the border to support their team in the final. Many came to Rio and camped out in their cars at the Sambadromo.

First up was the third place match for which I joined the Fonsecas to watch at a bar in Leblon, Rio. The Futebol rivalry between Argentina and Brasil runs deep, so even though Argentina was not playing Brasil in this match, the Argentinians on hand sang a chant for their greatest player,
‘Brasil decime que se siente tener en casa a tu papá. Te juro que aunque pasen los años nunca nos vamos a olvidar que Maradona gambeteo, el Cani te vacuno, estas llorando desde Italia hasta hoy. A Messi lo vas a ver, la copa nos va a traer. Maradona es mas grande que Pele’.
And the Brasilians retaliated with a chant for their greatest player,
‘Mil gols, mil gols, mil gols, mil gols, mil gols – So Pele, so Pele – Maradona é cherador!’
It kept the atmosphere alive during the match. Unfortunately there was no Pele to score for Brasil and they endured another humilitating defeat from Holland, matching their previous worst loss of 3-0 to France in 1974.

http://youtu.be/Dnu546J3XBc

The next day Caio wore his lucky Germany cap to the match at Maracana. I went to a World Cup Finals party at Marinha Gloria to watch the match and party afterwards. It was the best place to be! 2 big screens and dozens of TVs with loudspeakers to watch every second. Argentina got the ball in the net twice, but both were called back and Germany failed to shoot the ball into the net, forcing the game in extra time. Germany finally scored in the 2nd period of extra time and 1-0 would be the final score, earning Germany its 4th title, joining Italy (4) and Brasil (5). The German players gave ‘muito obrigado’ to Brasil for hosting a great World Cup and (in the words of Podolski) showing that ‘Deutscher Fussball ist geil’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xyk1dMLSG20

For Brasilians, that was the best outcome, as it would have been salt in their wounds if Argentina being their Futbol rival were to have been champions in their house, they would never hear the end of it. Brasilians are very proud and passionate, happy and friendly people. I think the general feeling is that of shell shock and sorrow but not anger. The Scratch could not find their rhythm during their final 2 games, suffering a German assault, including 4 goals in 6 minutes! Sure it’s their house but they want to see good Futebol and have the best team win. I had tons of fun at The World’s Greatest Sports Spectacle and glad things went smoothly. I’m already excited for 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia; look out for a stronger team from Colombia and Messi to return determined to win with Argentina! Until then, let’s continue partying Lepo Lepo style

http://youtu.be/PyW1GJLpPcM