Brazil reportage

[bflefc]

So then. São Paulo: huge, dump, smelly, boring. It really is a toilet of a city! And the size of it is simply over-whelming.

There's also far less World Cup fever out in the streets and amongst the locals, despite the hype claiming that the country and it's people are football mad. Previous tournaments seemed to consume the entire country, whereas walking around Paulista and Augusta today you'd have struggled to see anything tournament related. It was even a struggle to find somewhere decent to watch the Australia-Holland game at lunchtime. Perhaps it's due to this city being simply too big, as even a concerted effort at staging something g wouldn't even scratch the surface.

Oh well, it'll change tomorrow up at the ground, I'm sure. And a chance to see us book our early flight home, probably. My mate and I are looking forward to Curitiba and Belo Horizonte as it'll hopefully feel more like a host city in those places.

 

[The Esk]

Stay safe and enjoy mate!

 

[harris78]

So then. São Paulo: huge, dump, smelly, boring. It really is a toilet of a city! And the size of it is simply over-whelming.

There's also far less World Cup fever out in the streets and amongst the locals, despite the hype claiming that the country and it's people are football mad. Previous tournaments seemed to consume the entire country, whereas walking around Paulista and Augusta today you'd have struggled to see anything tournament related. It was even a struggle to find somewhere decent to watch the Australia-Holland game at lunchtime. Perhaps it's due to this city being simply too big, as even a concerted effort at staging something g wouldn't even scratch the surface.

Oh well, it'll change tomorrow up at the ground, I'm sure. And a chance to see us book our early flight home, probably. My mate and I are looking forward to Curitiba and Belo Horizonte as it'll hopefully feel more like a host city in those places.

Pretty sure that's the heading in the Lonely Planet guide to Brazil

 

[bflefc]

England in p1ss poor performance shocker! Hardly any surprise, eh?

Decent enough ground, but I'm hugely unimpressed by São Paulo. I bet Corinthians fans are loving the fact that their shiny new ground is 17 km from the city centre (their current stadium is slap bang in the centre), and is naff for holding any noise or atmosphere in it.

Anyway, we're out of here in a couple of hours. Next stop is Curitiba. The mighty Ecuador v Honduras tonight for us. Should be a classic (snigger!).

 

[Roztitute]

Enjoy it mate!

 

[bflefc]

Sat outside a cheeky little bar over the road from the ground in Curitiba. Shed loads of Ecuadorians here, and the atmosphere is proper South American. The only downside is the French are winning their game on the telly

 

[bflefc]

Back after 3 sleepless flights and then the long drive back to Cornwall. Had a great laugh but I preferred my visit to Brazil last summer. This was the last World Cup for me, 24 years after my first. Enough is enough.

I'm sick of FIFA, who have removed all semblance of any true football atmosphere inside their sterile stadium zones. I'm also embarrassed by the cringeworthy tossers who feel the need to dress up in comedy outfits/fancy dress to a game of football. And all these fit birds who magically find tickets to World Cup games, get tarted up to the nines and the spend the match pouting for the cameras. Where are they at normal league matches, or even the qualifiers? And don't get me started on people wearing the shirts etc of another nation than their own, and "supporting" them. Jesus wept. It's more like a theme park now.

Brazilian league games I went to this time last year were real football experiences.

Must log off now, as the match has started on the telly