Clanging, banging and roaring fans cheer Brazil By Hindol Sengupta, Indo-Asian News Service
New Delhi, June 21 (IANS) Madly shaking their green-yellow streaked faces as they jiggled their bottoms and furiously waved the national flag, Brazilian fans cheered the Samba lions to victory in the Indian capital. Clanging giant brass cymbals, giving non-stop whoops of delight and incessantly blowing paper horns and whistles, about 100 Indians and Brazilians gathered at the country's embassy Friday, to wildly cheer their team as it took on England in the World cup quarterfinals. "This is like the final for us. Brazil has won the World Cup," grinned 39-year-old Ricardo Pinto, an attaché at the embassy, at the end of the pulsating match. The embassy, donned with hundreds of green and yellow balloons, exploded as the final whistle blew, taking the South American soccer giants to the semi-finals. Sitting in white, cushioned chairs or black metal stools, before a white wall where a projector flashed the television image, the fans rose to their feet almost every time a Brazilian player touched the ball. "Goal, goal, gooooooal!" yelled 57-year-old lawyer Anil Mittal, wiping the perspiration from his bald pate, as he fixed the green-yellow Brazilian flag tied as a bandana over his thick spectacles. "I've been a Brazilian fan for 30 years. They are the greatest!" Mittal said above roar that began from the time Brazil rolled on to the field in Shizuoka, Japan. A huge hush fell on the audience when England striker Michael Owen found the Brazilian net in the 23rd minute. For a moment, the Indians and Brazilians were stunned to silence, their paper horns hanging limply in their hands, the cheer stuck in their throat. Then Saurav Dutta Gupta, a young government employee from Kolkata, shouted: "It's okay, they'll make up. Come on, come on Brazil!" Even as he spoke, Brazilian ambassador Vera Barrouin Machado clutched a wood carved statuette of Ganesha - the elephant-headed Hindu god who is said to bring good fortune -- and looked decidedly downcast. In a few minutes though, it was back to normal, the roar returned, as did the clanging, accompanied by a duet with a bunch of plastic bottles being banged on the chairs. The aroma of Brazilian tobacco filled the air as the fans chanted: "Go, go, go Brazil, go, go, go! Come on Ronaldo, come on Ronaldinho, come on Rivaldo!" And come on Rivaldo did, equalising in the 47th minute just before halftime. The crowd went crazy. They did the samba, hugged each other, danced with each other and generally went into the halftime break convinced they would pick the cup. After the break, as the English team ran into the field, the crowd booed. When the curly locks-swinging Ronaldinho shot curled about the heads of the English defence to score the second goal for Brazil, electricity was whizzing through the room. Moments later, when Ronaldinho got a red card, the fans at the embassy couldn't believe it, as couldn't the star ball-player on screen. "These English are bloody fakes," said Jose, the husband of one of the embassy officials. >From then on, they cheered every time the Brazilian defence downed Beckham or Owen or any of the English players. When the final whistle blew, the balloons started exploding right, left and centre. "This is a famous victory, a great victory, a victory we have been looking forward to for a long time," said Machado. "Now the cup is ours." --Indo-Asian News Service =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=- To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet ================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
