MANAUS // Much has been made about the demographics of Brazilian fans attending this World Cup. They are not representative of the country’s football culture; the wealthy, middle-class fills the stands, while the football-mad poor who attend domestic league games and play in the streets with flip-flops for goalposts are priced out, forced to follow their team at home on television.
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Yet while watching Brazil play in a World Cup on home soil is the ultimate football experience, for those not fortunate enough to land a golden ticket (or should that be canary-yellow ticket?) the experience of a Fifa Fan Fest is proving the next-best thing.
Fifa gets plenty of deserved criticism, but their spectator parks – one in each host city, stocked with everything you might need, and showing football on several large screens – are something worth commending. Perhaps it is because it is very un-Fifa-like: water, sun lotion and other bare necessities are allowed in, unlike at the multimillion-dollar arenas.
Brazil versus Cameroon took place in Brasilia, the capital city, yet watching on a massive screen in the middle of the Amazon jungle, surrounded by yellow-shirted locals and burning in the tropical sun, offered an alternative experience.
In Manaus, we are closer to Miami than we are to Sao Paulo, yet the patriotism is stronger than ever. When the anthem rang, so did my ears, for several minutes afterwards.
The atmosphere at Brazil games has at times seemed a bit tense, the fans a bit impatient. In the Fan Fest, there was nothing but admiration – even for Hulk, who got the biggest cheer of the night when his name was read out pre-match.
The celebrations when Neymar scored the opening goal was nothing short of unbridled joy and when Fernandinho netted the fourth, the scenes were just as zealous.
Sure, fans would prefer to be inside the stadium, but inside a fan fest – whisper it – the atmosphere can sometimes be even better.
gmeenaghan@thenational.ae
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