Brazil vs. Spain today
In a little over 3 hours Brazil will play France in the World Cup. Of course all of the games in the finals are important, but this one holds special significance, since France beat Brazil 3-0 in the final in 1998. All of the Brazilians I know remember that game quite well and are still bitter about it.
Brazil played much better in the last game (against Ghana) than in any of the previous matches, but they still weren't up to the expectations people had for them here. Most people complain that they played poorly last match, and were out-played by the Ghanese team but just had more luck (and the Ghanians less). There were a few who said they thought Brazil played well, and emphasized that even if you have perfect passes all the time, if you can't score then you're not going to win.
That's the situation Ghana seemed to be in at the last game. Unfortunately for them the Brazilian goalie played very well, and had a couple of very lucky saves. Also Brazil's defense played pretty well, considering that their offense seemed pretty inconsistent.
On an individual level, though, you really got to hand it to the Brazilian players. Ronaldo's goal, which tied the game and broke the record for number of goals scored by an individual player in the World Cup (15), was the result of an amazing fake where he stepped over the ball, faked right, and went left past the goalie to kick it into an open net. Zé Ramalho's goal (Brazil's 3rd), came after he kicked the ball over the goalies left shoulder with a high and surprisingly graceful tap of the ball in the air, after which he ran past the goalie and tapped it lightly into the goal in the manner of a behind-the-back pass. The flies were buzzing in and out of my mouth quite freely at that point.
Yesterday I bought an official Nike Brazil World Cup shirt, which is supposedly the same as the players wear. Number 9 (Ronaldo). With the exception of rent and tuition for my classes, at R$179 (~$75) I believe it is the biggest purchase I've made in Brazil. That's around 2 weeks salary for the majority of people in Salvador. I was afraid that it might go up in price (yes, it's possible, although hard to believe) if Brazil wins any more games so I bit the bullet and did it. That's my excuse.
I also entered a World Cup pool a few days back with some guys at work, and I have very consistently picked the loser of nearly each major semi- or quarter-final game to win. Gambling and sports have always been a magic combination for me.
Brazil played much better in the last game (against Ghana) than in any of the previous matches, but they still weren't up to the expectations people had for them here. Most people complain that they played poorly last match, and were out-played by the Ghanese team but just had more luck (and the Ghanians less). There were a few who said they thought Brazil played well, and emphasized that even if you have perfect passes all the time, if you can't score then you're not going to win.
That's the situation Ghana seemed to be in at the last game. Unfortunately for them the Brazilian goalie played very well, and had a couple of very lucky saves. Also Brazil's defense played pretty well, considering that their offense seemed pretty inconsistent.
On an individual level, though, you really got to hand it to the Brazilian players. Ronaldo's goal, which tied the game and broke the record for number of goals scored by an individual player in the World Cup (15), was the result of an amazing fake where he stepped over the ball, faked right, and went left past the goalie to kick it into an open net. Zé Ramalho's goal (Brazil's 3rd), came after he kicked the ball over the goalies left shoulder with a high and surprisingly graceful tap of the ball in the air, after which he ran past the goalie and tapped it lightly into the goal in the manner of a behind-the-back pass. The flies were buzzing in and out of my mouth quite freely at that point.
Yesterday I bought an official Nike Brazil World Cup shirt, which is supposedly the same as the players wear. Number 9 (Ronaldo). With the exception of rent and tuition for my classes, at R$179 (~$75) I believe it is the biggest purchase I've made in Brazil. That's around 2 weeks salary for the majority of people in Salvador. I was afraid that it might go up in price (yes, it's possible, although hard to believe) if Brazil wins any more games so I bit the bullet and did it. That's my excuse.
I also entered a World Cup pool a few days back with some guys at work, and I have very consistently picked the loser of nearly each major semi- or quarter-final game to win. Gambling and sports have always been a magic combination for me.
posted by n10471 at 12:15 PM
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