Kevin Whitcher
Sunday morning marked a week since our first morning in Brazil. On that first full day, we were taking a taxi to Rio airport for an internal flight to Salvador. It seems an eternity ago now. Sunday next week will be the final morning I wake up in Brazil, having enjoyed our final game of the tournament at the Maracana the evening before. Back to the present, and Manaus, and at the hotel breakfast I spotted an unshaven Mark Lawrenson at a neighbouring table. I doubt he is on camera doing his punditry so has no need to look decent. Even I have had two shaves since I have been here in the name of decency. If you are working for the media at the tournament, it's an easy life. Decent hotels, expense allowance and specially laid on buses to get you to the matches, press conferences and open training sessions. There are worse jobs, although it was interesting that Roy Keane passed up the chance to be here. He is a bit of a loner and would hate being away from home for an extended period. I saw a couple of days of UK coverage before I left to head over here and have to say that Keane is probably the only pundit I would have wanted to hear. Maybe Patrick Vieira is good, although I didn't really see anything special on the one occasion I caught him on the box on the opening day.
We went to the local shopping centre to buy some insect repellent in the late morning, and passed the hotel where the Portuguese team were staying. There were crash barriers outside and pleny of fans waiting for a glimpse of Cristiano Ronaldo. I doubt they ever saw him as even when the team got on the coach later, apparently they boarded out of the hotel door without being visible from the street due to the way the coach was parked. The windows would have been the usual blacked out affairs.
We decided to cab it to the stadium for the Portugal v USA game, one of two we will watch here. Or at least take a taxi to about a kilometre from it as they were not allowed any nearer. We could see the ground from Adam's hotel room window but it was so hot we thought it best to avoid what would have been at least a half hour walk. Sweltering just about sums it up. I tried in vain for 30 minutes to shift three spares we have for the Switzerland v Honduras game here on Wednesday, before giving up and going in.
The stadium is another excellently designed one that affords great views from every seat. One thing I have noticed up to this point is that the rake of the seats in the lower tiers seems to be very good. Nice and steep, unlike at the Emirates. Also, the first row tends to be at least six feet above pitch level. We had lower tier seats in row W behind the goal, but the view of the far end was excellent. The conditions though, were something else. It was hot, high 20s, but the humidity was incredible, even at 6pm in the evening (Manaus is an hour behind most of the other venues and five hours behind BST). This of course, was where England played Italy, and at the same kick off time, although appartently the temperature was a little cooler. I must have lost a kilo in sweat during the course of the game. God alone knows about the players, but to a man their shirts were ringing with sweat. I was mystified by Cristiano Ronaldo's decion to wear a long sleeved top in the first half, but after the interval he came out in a short sleeved one.
There was something bordering on complete hysteria in the stadium whenever he touched the ball. I guess the locals do not see such footballing superstars play very often, and so it was something of a unique experience to watch a player of Ronaldo's stature in the flesh. Obviously he missed three very decent chances to score before setting up Portugal's dramatic, dying seconds equaliser. It was a very decent game, in Adam's view the best we have attended at these finals yet. Credit to the players of both teams for producing good football given the conditions.
We finished the evening by visiting a square - by the name of El Dorado - recommended by a rather fetching receptionist at the hotel. It had about eight bars, and all of them had their own musical entertainment blasting out, with the locals, specifically the females. dancing to the beat, sometimes joined by American males who were enjoying the interaction. The swaying of Brazilian hips was somehow very entrancing, and we enjoyed the warm evening and the vibe over a few drinks. At about midnight, some of the tables were packed away - as they were situated on a road that ran around the square, and traffic was allowed to return. As things wound down, we headed back to sleep, knowing we would have to transfer back to the hotel we were supposed to be staying in the following morning.
Monday saw Brazil play their final group game. We decided to delay checking in at the hotel we were moving to until after the Monday matches had been played, so vacated the rooms and left the cases at the rather superior hotel we did not want to leave until later. I had done some hand washing, which had not dried much hung up in the bathroom, so spent half an hour by the rooftop pool drying my clothes out in the blistering heat of the morning sun and taking in the views while nature did its work.
We headed into town and found a couple of huge screens set up in a square outside the city's opera house, with plastic garden furniture style chairs to sit on. Holland v Chile was about ten minutes into the game, so I plonked myself down in a chair in the shade under a tree while Adam and Sanj went to investigate securing a boat trip around the Amazon for the following day. With Brazil the likely opponents for the losers of this match, there was something genuinely at stake in spite of both sides knowing they had qualified. It was intruiging to see Sao Paulo in bright sunshine for this fixture afer the miserable conditions last Thursday when we were there for the England v Uruguay game. Although the Dutch shaded it on the day, even without Van Persie, Chile will not be an easy game for Brazil. Before the following match, we had a couple of hours of entertainment on a stage in front of one of the big screens. First up a rapper, who I confess did not grip me, nor many of the others present going by the smattering of applause that greeted the end of each number. Adam and Sanj returned during his performance and I took a stroll of my own to stretch my legs. The heat was intense, but I found a roadside stall selling skewers of different varieties of meat for the equivalent of less than £1. I ended up enjoying two of them. Most of the shops were closing, so too many of the market stalls in the area. It was effectively shutdown for the Brazil game.
Back at the giant screens, another act had begun their performance. It was some kind of native music, although set to a modern beat with drums and guitar as part of the mix. At one point a giant cow's head joined the performers, most of whom were dancers in Amazonian style costumes. I am sure it was all ecologically themed, save the rainforest and all that, although in fairness the crowd, now 95% Brazilian by this time, lapped it up, in contrast to the earlier rapper. It seemed that the performance included some popular hits in these parts, going by the singalong element of proceedings.
The main event kicked off at 4pm local time, 5pm in Brasilia where the game was being played, and 9pm back in the UK. Although Cameroon provided a scare by equalising, Brazil turned it on when required to ensure they won their group. You have to fancy them to win the whole shebang for no other reason that the officials do seem to be rather kind to them at key moments, and in this game, the third goal was obviously offside. It was a bit weird seeing Neymar messing about with Alex Song after the game, although I am not certain if you saw this back home.
The remainder of the day was dominated by an initial struggle to spot an unoccupied taxi, followed by negotiating a boat trip for the next day and finally moving hotel. We slept well, which was just as well, as we would have to be up by 6am the following morning.
