Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
+++++++ Maracana Special +++++++
Sunday March 16th should by rights have been part of Ed & Kat's celebrity blog so apologies are due. However some experiences deserve closer examination and on the day in question we paid a visit to the heart of Brazilian football and one of the truly legendary football stadiums of the world, the Maracana. A week previously we had spotted an innocuous bowl shaped structure from a mountain and been intrigued. We managed to assemble an international coalition at the hostel go to see a local derby, Flamengo v Botafogo in a match that had no particular significance save its location and on their arrival Ed & Kat were equally enthusiastic.
Unusually for Rio the stadium is easy to get to via public transport so as we traveled we considered the crucial choice for the day - which team we were going to support. Personally I think it is impossible to go to a football match as a neutral and our choices today were Flamengo (a successful, skilful and wildly popular team) or Botafogo (a team of faded glory with a fanatical but limited fan base and no real prospects). With us we had Karina a Dutch girl who had seen Botafogo lose to Flamengo the previous week and fallen in love with them and Spencer an American who just really loves the crest. Of course as a Newcastle fan the choice for me was obvious even without the black and white striped strip and the choice was made.
On the subway we followed the Botafogo supporters to a separate stop and approached the stadium in a trickle of black and white over a 60's style concrete pedestrian walkway.
I seized the opportunity to purchase a 'replica' Botafogo shirt seemingly made of old crisp packets, thankfully it was a cloudy day or I would have melted. Having turned myself into a fire hazard we came to the end of the walkway where all the black and white Botafogo supporters had pooled and were drinking beer, singing and abusing any Flamengo supporters who foolishly got off at the wrong stop. This was a nothing match but still the fans were bouncing up and down, singing constantly, setting off fireworks and generally treating it like the world cup final. Towards game time we moved inside the stadium partially prompted by the police beating some over enthusiastic supporters but mostly because a man with only two teeth and smelling strongly of urine had taken an acute interest in us.
Inside the stadium is pretty nice by UK standards, entry and exit is via enormous stairways and the facilities were way above what we expected. Of course it was helped by the fact that only 25,000 were expected for a stadium with a capacity of 100,000 but once you were inside in the heart of the Botafogo fans you really couldn't tell. The game itself seemed to be largely irrelevant, at times the rhythm of the crowd seemed to be dictating the play rather than the other way round. The entire game seemed to be each team taking it in turns to attack en masse and I was shocked there were only five goals. I have to admit the Flamengo fans had better banners and lots of flares but the Botafogo fans made up for it in sheer volume and blind passion (both Flamengo goals were good but were greeted with howls of outrage). The game ended 3-2 to Botafogo (hopefully a good omen for the remainder on Newcastle's season) and we all bounced our way out of the stadium and all the way home singing the Botafogo song even though we didn't know any of the words.
I have to say it was the best game for enjoyment and sheer atmosphere I have ever been to. I have absolutely no idea how crazy it would be in a match that mattered with a full stadium but if you ever get the opportunity give it a try, I certainly will. Special thanks go to all our footie buddies, the Botafogo fans, Andres, Karina, Spencer, Ed and particularly Kat who showed great enthusiasm even though it wasn't exactly her thing.
Viva Maracana, Viva Botafogo
Love A & R
- comments