GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAL!!!!!!!!!!!!

2 teams. A crowd of 50,000 people. 7 ambulances on standby. 12 guard dogs with 50 armed guards on the permitter of the field. 3 Referees being escorted onto and off of the field by 9 riot police complete with shields and helmets. A countless number of teams of 5 Military Police, single file, patrolling the stadium at all times with a gun strapped to their leg, a baton in hand, and a rifle strapped to their chest.

This is a typical game of Futbol (Soccer) in Brazil.

It occured to me that at some point in the future this structures going to buckle.

I have never in my life experienced such a passionate, aggressive display of national / local pride. I have never been to a pro-football game in the states though I dont know if it even compares. Something tells me though that a Brazilian Futbol Game kicks the ass of an American Football game any day.

The game came complete with a halftime show of the police and their guard dogs showing their prowess. They systematically went to each corner of the field, made the dog sit, gave the policeman a running head start, then released the dog free, to play a nice quick game of tackle the extremely large man with the giant pad protector on his arm. The dog (A German Shepard I might add) then bit into the arm protector and the man, with the dog  still attached, swung both of them around in circles, the dog completely airborne, to show the crowd that they meant business. We didn´t wait around at the end of the game to see if any spectators were going to challenge their authority. It was quite impressive all the same.

The Stadium was two tired with cement bleacher seating. Only no one sat the entire game. People stood on the cement blocks, sat on eachothers shoulders, leaned one way then the other just to get a glimpse of the action. People were standing so close to one another that you could feel your hair blow when the person behind you coughed. Which happened to me of course. I could only hope that no gooey goodness came out with that cough as i ran my hands across my hair to double check. AOK.

After scalping some tickets Christiano, Ari, Sheena and I got our Â´seats´. We were positioned in between the two tiers on a small level above the cement seating, set back a bit from the immense crowd. It wouldn't have been safe for us to be any closer. But tell me why all I wanted was to be right there in the action? In any case we were slightly above the first level of crowds and had a great view of the field. We were ´sitting´on the wall with one foot each dangling over the edge. We later found out that this would not be a good idea.

So remember the crowds that I shared with you all during Carnaval time? Well...they all merged together in this one giant location for the game. It is pretty easy to see how one can get caught up in the passion of it all. When there was a goal scored, it was as if the crowd themselves had scored the goal. There was this one loud collective ROAR, jumping and dancing and running began, people were hugging complete strangers, Ari, Sheena and I were all picked up by the people around us and hugged as they jumped up and down. Our bodies also jumped up and down with these strangers as if we had made the decision to jump ourselves. If we had been any lighter I am sure they would have attempted throwing us in the air.

Plastic beer cups went flying into the sky, hitting the ceiling of the floor of the 2nd tier above us, showering us with beer. It literally rained beer from all around when a team would score a goal. If there was a bad call by the ref it would also rain beer as people would get so pissed they threw their cups to the ground. It was just raining beer the whole night and I dont think it was on purpose. I honesly think that when the crowd threw their beer or whatever else was in their hands, that it wasnt for show and it wasnt to make a specific statement. It was this viscoral reaction. It was just an extension of the instense feelings that were going on inside and I really truly believe that these people could not help it. If their arms went up in either extreme excitement or extreme disgust at a call, there went their beer. Just released into the sky completely forgotten it was ever in their hands in the first place.

It was a local game with the final score being Victoria 4, Bahia 2. Two goals by Victoria being scored in the last 2 minutes of the game. One of my favorite moments was when the Victoria team seemed to stop forward movement of the game to play keep away from the Bahia men. Each pass that was completed without the Bahia team touching the ball, the crowd would taunt the players. There seemed to be this unspoken agreement between the Vitorian fans and Victorian players. Lets not only kill these guys but lets humiliate them too. Awesome.

I think more than anything I just couldn't get over the intensity with which these fans were involved in the game. Every move, good or bad; every call, good or bad; every second of the game was scrutinized by the fans. Always vocal, always passionate and always loud. A collective, passionate, unanimous opinion that seemed to overtake even the uninhiberated and sound Americans that were simply casual spectators. Which brings me to the next point.

While sitting with one foot over the edge of our ´balcony´ Ari´s foot was punched by a fan from the Victorian team. Right on the bone. Even though we were routing for Victoria as well, this fan didn't know and didn't care because the sneakers that Ariane had worn, without her knowledge, were the colors of the opposing team. Even just the colors of the opposing team were enough to set this guy off. Without even thinking Ari threw her water from above right into this guys face. It didn't even seem to phase him because he just kept shouting ´VICTORIA VICTORIA VICTORIA´with such conviction as his entire being transformed with those words. You could see it in his eyes. It was finally relayed to him that we were all on the same side and he then shouted the teams name again, only this time happy wih our decision to route for Victoria.

Above all I felt safe the entire time. Even when there were firecrackers and sparklers going off in the stands, and even when at the end of the game Christiano rushed us out of there just as an argument was about to escalate. The only time it was questionable was when Victoria scored its 3rd goal taking the lead for the last time. All of a sudden it felt like the ground below me was shaking. I look up and the entire cement structure above me is moving, the lights are flickering and it occured to me that at some point in the future this structures going to buckle.

But dont tell that to the fans above me, all 50,000 of them, they are simply just jumping in unison as their local team makes another goal.

I wish more than anything that my brothers could have been there at this game with me. I thought about how they would have enjoyed it the whole time. It beat any game they have even played and any world cup tourney they have ever watched on TV.