In Dec 2012 I had the opportunity to visit the Pacaembu Stadium and Museum in Sao Paulo. It was a nice experience together with my colleagues all from Argentinean or Brazilian origin. This article from the NYT describes very well the soccer scene in Brazil. Having experienced in the early nineties a game in La Boca in Buenos Aires between the Boca Juniors and Newell Oll Boys, this was an unforgettable 90 minutes in a old and super dangerous la Boca Stadium. Since I am moving shortly to Rio de Janeiro I cant wait to experience a real "Classico" in the cidade maravilhosa of course the land of the beautiful game!
Gol, Gol, Gol!
http://travel.nytimes.com/2013/04/14/travel/brazil-where-the-beautiful-game-struts.html?pagewanted=3&_r=0&hpw
Are You Ready for Some Futebol?
By SETH KUGEL
The banner-waving, anthem-singing fans of Rio de Janeiro’s Flamengo club
formed a billowing mass of ruby-and — black-clad humanity. They moved
not only in reaction to the ebbs and flows on the field far below, but
also to the samba beat pounded out by musicians in the midst of the
grandstand mayhem around me and my friend Doug. The bands had not
stopped playing, and fans had not stopped chanting, in the 18 minutes
since the game began.
Then, on the field far below, a precision passer on the rival team
Fluminense launched the ball straight for their top scorer. As
nonchalantly as flipping a light switch, he scissor-kicked a strike past
the keeper into the far left corner of the goal. Or as it is known
locally:
“Goooooooooooool!”
On the other side of the stadium, the Fluminense fans — outfitted in
green, grenadine and white — erupted, but they were so isolated, so far
away, that they looked and sounded like television static with the
volume turned way up. On our side, the samba ceased. The fans slumped —
for about 10 seconds.
Then the Flamengo samba machine swung back into action. The fans started
singing again, a love song to their team. Their banners waved like
mainsails in a storm. Mourning would wait for later: Flamengo eventually
lost 1-0. But in Brazil, telling fans to stop cheering because the
opposing team scored would be like telling a D.J. to stop the party
because someone danced badly.
In Brazil, soccer is not just a game, it’s a national drama. One of
Brazil’s great 20th-century playwrights and novelists, Nelson Rodrigues,
recognized that the sport trumped even his own craft in defining the
nation. “Abroad, when you want to learn about a people, you examine
their fiction,” he wrote. “In Brazil, football plays the role of
fiction.”
You can find variations on that particular brand of drama across the
Brazilian soccer scene, almost all year round, in Rio and São Paulo and
at smaller stadiums in lesser-known cities.
Here’s when you probably won’t find it: during the World Cup,
which Brazil will host from June 12 to July 13, 2014. It won’t be in
the stands when, say, Cameroon plays Serbia, or when France squares off
against the Uzbeks. The World Cup will be a good party, guaranteed — and
the handful of games the Brazilian side plays will be all-out
spectacles. (Good luck getting tickets for those matches.) But the best
time to experience true Brazilian soccer — or, more accurately, futebol
(foo-tchee-BOW) — will be outside the parameters of the Cup.
That said, it is not simple to plan a soccer trip to Brazil. I had an
advantage as a Portuguese speaker who had lived in the country for two
years. Others might find it more difficult. The complex league schedules
are largely unavailable in English. You’ll have to find your way to the
stadium, choosing between public transportation and sometimes pricey
taxis. Even where to sit can be a consequential decision.
And you’ll always have to be ready for the unexpected: Engenhão, the very stadium where Doug and I watched the Flamengo-Fluminense game, was closed
last month for structural repairs. And there have been other black eyes
for the country as it ramps up to the Cup. At the end of last month, an
American woman was abducted and gang-raped in the popular Rio district of Copacabana. Police had to use tear gas recently after fans clashed
when tickets ran out for the inaugural match of the new World Cup
stadium in Salvador. (Six people reportedly sustained minor injuries.)
As is often the case with travel in developing countries, things can be
less predictable and more chaotic than you may be used to at home.
But none of those should dissuade you from experiencing soccer in
Brazil. The phrase “the beautiful game” did not originate in the
country, but it accurately describes the fluid and frequently dazzling
play you’ll see. After attending six games last fall, I concluded that
Brazilians speak soccer fluently, while everyone else has an accent.
My guess is that many Americans (and other travelers) don’t explore the
admittedly complicated world of Brazilian soccer because they think it’s
too dangerous or, more likely, have no idea how. Here, then, is a guide
on the whens, wheres and how-tos.
When to Go
The first thing you have to know about Brazilian soccer is that it is
played nearly year-round. There’s no spring training or long,
wait-till-next-year periods of inactivity. Between two consecutive
league seasons and a handful of national and international tournaments,
the biggest teams play virtually nonstop, except for about a month in
late December and early January. The first few months of the year are
dominated by state leagues: all 26 Brazilian states, as well as the
Federal District in and around Brasília, have them. (Games are generally
on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.) By May or June, the more
exciting four-tiered national league starts. By the time the season ends
in December, there’s a national champion.
But the action doesn’t end there. Top finishers in the national
tournament earn berths in the next year’s Libertadores Cup and South
American Cup, two regional tournaments that run concurrently with parts
of the state and national seasons. There’s also the Brazil Cup, a
separate national competition with a knockout tournament format. And
occasionally, the national team (that is, the one that goes to the World
Cup) will play a “friendly” match against visiting foreign squads.
(This year, from June 15 to 30, Brazil hosts the Confederations Cup, stopping league play.)
The other good news is that you don’t always need to buy tickets in
advance. There are exceptions: if it’s a game between two big teams,
known as a clássico (more on that below), you should be safe and buy
tickets beforehand at the stadium, club headquarters or other outlets;
ask your taxi driver or hotel staff members. Buying online is sometimes
possible but tricky: sites usually require a Brazilian ID number and
domestic address.
How to Stay Safe
Rio is full of coddled experiences — tours of the favelas, private
helicopter rides — and soccer is no exception. In hotel lobbies in the
tourist-clogged Copacabana and Ipanema neighborhoods, travelers can pay
150 reais or so (about $75 at 2 reais to the dollar), take a bus or van
to the stadium, and be herded by an English-speaking guide into the
pricey reserved seats. It is the most expensive and probably the most
boring way to see a match. It is also unnecessary.
Travel in Brazil is never entirely without risk, of course, but games
are much safer than they used to be. Armed with some advance knowledge,
common-sense precautions and a sense of adventure, it’s far more
exciting to sit in the general-admission grandstand. In summary: arrive
very early, don’t bring valuables, and sit on the edges of the
grandstand, not in the middle of the mayhem.
Things have changed a lot since the 1980s, when fights between opposing
fan groups were common, said Bernardo Buarque de Hollanda, a professor
at the Fundação Getúlio Vargas who studies the social history of sport
and specializes in the highly organized fan groups, or torcidas
organizadas, that dominate the grandstands. “Instead of spontaneous
violence, it was premeditated,” he said. By the 1990s stadiums began to
separate fan bases for all games, although that sometimes just resulted
in moving fights outside the stadium. Since then, a 2003 federal law
made leagues and clubs legally responsible for fan safety, and was
strengthened in 2010 to make the torcidas and their leaders criminally
responsible for member actions within five kilometers of the stadium.
State laws now prohibit alcohol sales (though those will be temporarily
lifted for the World Cup).
Mr. Buarque added that “there is a tendency toward building stadiums
that guarantee the comfort and security of fans” — including chairs
instead of concrete steps and more security personnel. Fans have
complained that some of the newer stadiums are too civilized and seats
too expensive, but their loss is your gain.
You’ll also want to decide on whether to participate in the street
festivities before the game. At most of the games I attended, street
vendors hawked dirt-cheap, ice-cold beer and meat on sticks. In most
places, there was a significant police presence, which was mostly
reassuring. Even at a Series B game I attended in Fortaleza, in the
northeast, where rows of officers in riot gear standing guard were
enough to startle me, there was no evidence of anything worse than
beer-drinking teenagers.
One more thing: Brazilian men are not particularly known for their
shyness around women, and given the male-dominated crowds at most
matches, women (and, for that matter, parents and their children) may
feel more comfortable in a calmer area, away from the grandstand. And
you may be glad that your children don’t understand Portuguese: chants
directed at referees and opposing players can get vulgar and often
homophobic.
Where to Go
The obvious places to see games are Rio and São Paulo, for two reasons:
first, they have multiple major teams — Flamengo, Fluminense, Vasco and
Botafogo in Rio; Corinthians, São Paulo F.C. and Palmeiras in São Paulo,
with several other less popular professional teams. In other words,
there will always be a game.
You also won’t run out of soccer-related things to do between games. In
Rio, there’s the small museum at Maracanã, Brazil’s most famous soccer
stadium. (The museum remains open during pre-Cup stadium renovations.)
Elsewhere, the city’s beaches host informal games, known as peladas. One
of the more regular and impressive ones is the Pelada de Siqueira
Campos, on Copacabana beach just off the street of the same name, on
Sundays at 10:30 a.m. It’s serious business, and looks utterly
exhausting. And on both Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, you’ll find lots
of impressive futevolei, a version of volleyball played soccer style,
with no hand or arm contact.
Probably the best place to supplement your soccer fix, though, is the Museum of Football, located
within Pacaembu Stadium in São Paulo. The museum — where most exhibits,
though not all, are translated into English and Spanish — provides
historical perspective but, more important, goes pretty far in
replicating the excitement in the stadiums. A samba beat follows you
part of the way through the exhibits, and a raucous audio-visual display
(dramatically located under the Pacaembu bleachers) is dedicated to the
organized fan groups. “Everything in life changes, except for the team
you choose to cheer for,” a quote reads. Particularly appealing are the
videos in which Brazilian soccer writers recall the most memorable goals
of their lives.
São Paulo also has something not common elsewhere: bars dedicated to
soccer. Bar São Cristovão, in the middle of the bustling Vila Madalena
night-life district, is a must visit. The bar, with walls plastered with
memorabilia, is a popular spot on game days, and its draft beers and
snacks make for great game-time refreshment. It also sells historic
jerseys of the major Brazilian clubs for 140 reais.
What to Watch
The Flamengo/Fluminense — or Fla/Flu — game I attended was what is
called a clássico, a showdown between two historically great teams. Not
surprisingly, emotions run higher than usual during such games,
especially, as was the case there, when both teams are local. The circus
outside Engenhão on the day we went was intense — beer was plentiful,
crowds were thick and rowdy. It’s kind of like Carnival with far fewer
women. That’s not for everyone, but those up to the challenge will enjoy
the spectacle.
“A foreigner should try to see a clássico,” said Alexandre Nobeschi, the sports editor for Folha de S.Paulo,
the country’s largest-circulation newspaper. “It’s there that you can
see the true impact soccer has on the life of Brazilians.”
At the five non-clássico games I attended, the atmosphere was a tad more
mellow, but probably not to a degree noticeable to a novice. At another
Fluminense game versus Ponte Preta, a team from São Paulo state, I sat
in a packed (but not sold-out) San Januário, a charmingly crumbling
17,000-capacity stadium that rocked with fervor as Flu came back against
an early Ponte Preta lead. (Female travelers, take note: I observed
that Fluminense attracted far more women to the grandstand than any
other team I saw.)
By far my favorite place to see soccer, though, was in Santos, a port
city of 420,000 an hour (or three, depending on traffic) from São Paulo,
where coffee has floated out of Brazil since the 19th century, and much
more — soybeans, sugar, automobiles — floats out today.
Santos is a storied club — it has won eight national championships and
was Pelé’s team from 1957 to 1974. On two World Cup teams, in 1962 and
1970, 8 of the 11 starting players played in Santos, and although that
is unlikely ever to happen again (most top Brazilian players now make
millions for European clubs), it is, at least for now, the squad of
Neymar, the 21-year-old Instagram-using star who many consider the best
player in the country.
The stadium in Santos is tiny and intimate, so the seats are very close
to the action. (Cubs and Red Sox fans will recognize the appeal.) And
pretty soon, Santos will be home to a brand-new museum dedicated to
Pelé, in a renovated mansion known as the Casarão do Valongo. It’s
scheduled to be open by the World Cup. But no need to rush — it will
still be there when the World Cup ends and real Brazilian soccer starts
up again.
IF YOU GO
The most complete listings for games across Brazil is at globoesporte.com. It’s difficult to navigate without some Portuguese, so here are tips:
• Click on the “futebol” tab.
• Choose either the national leagues on the left or the appropriate
state league along the right. (Note: carioca = Rio de Janeiro; paulista =
São Paulo; gaúcho = Rio Grande do Sul)
• The resulting page lists the next round of matchups (to the right of
the standings) and you can click through to later dates.
MATCH DAY
• Look up team colors on Google and avoid wearing them.
• Eat before you go; food options in and around the stadium are limited and not necessarily good.
• Leave backpacks and valuables at home, but bring sunscreen and small bills for beverage vendors.
• Wear comfortable shoes and be prepared to stand the whole game.
• Allow more time than you think to get to the stadium and arrive a minimum of an hour in advance.
• If two local teams are playing, exercise extra caution outside the
stadium as tensions between opposing fans can run high.
• Different ticket booths may sell different kinds of tickets; if you’re
going grandstand, ask around for “arquibancada” (ar-key-ban-CA-da).
• Enter the stadium well before the game to find seats.
•Sit toward the edges of the grandstand at first, edging in depending on the level of mayhem desired.
SCHEDULE
The top professional soccer clubs play virtually year-round, with a
brief break in late December and early January. Roughly the first half
of the year is dominated by state-level competitions, and the second
half by the four-tiered national league; games for both are usually on
Wednesdays and weekends.
GLOSSARY
futebol (foo-tchee-BOW): soccer
Uma (duas) inteira(s), por favor One (two) full-price ticket(s), please.
Uma (duas) meia(s), por favor One (two) half-priced
ticket(s), please. (For students and those over 60, though there’s no
guarantee foreign proof of age or student status will be accepted.)
arquibancada grandstand (the cheapest seats, open seating)
social, cadeira, numerada more expensive, calmer seating categories; the term varies by stadium
torcida organizada organized fan group
dérbi a derby, or “clássico” between two local teams
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