Codell Rodriguez
Daily Egyptian
At 6 a.m. Sunday, the streets of Carbondale were almost completely deserted, creating the feeling of a ghost town. But one place in Carbondale that was full of life was the home of Walkiria Adams. The front door was decorated with a Brazilian flag to represent her country in the World Cup.
Inside the house, more than 20 people, mostly from Brazil, filled the living room, covered in yellow and green jerseys and face paint, ready to cheer for their team as they battled Germany for soccer's most honored prize. Appetizers were going fast, nervous chatter filled the room, the dogs wanted to come inside and the game was about to start. Several of the guests were yawning, but nobody was about to fall asleep.
When the Brazilian players ran onto the field, the quiet conversation erupted into cheers. The cheers would rise throughout the morning whenever they saw the Brazilian superstar Ronaldo. The nerves of the fans were beginning to show on their faces, and some of them even made the sign of the cross.
After the game began, one fan asked whether ABC would cut to commercials while the game was going on.
"I'll kill them if they do that," said Mauro Pinheiro, a graduate student from Fortaleza, Brazil, jokingly.
Soccer games are made up of two halves, each 45 minutes long with up to five minutes of extra play. The clock does not stop, and there are no 30-second or one minute time-outs. Much to fans' delight, there were no commercial breaks.
During the first half, yellow cards were met with Portuguese profanity, Germany's near goals were met with terrified screams, and deep breaths of relief and Brazil's misses were met with groans of disappointment and sometimes anger. One fan jumped up and threw his hat to the ground at a Brazil kick that went wide of the goal post.
"I could kick better than that!" the fan screamed.
At the end of the half, the score remained nil, and the crowd applauded the team for its effort and used their 15-minute break to eat.
During the break, the group talked about Brazil's odds. Pinheiro said that while the Germans controlled the ball more often, the Brazilians had more goal attempts.
Pinheiro said this game was especially important because it was the third consecutive trip to the final match for Brazil. In 1994, Brazil beat Italy and in '98, France defeated Brazil.
Marcelo Coelho, a graduate student in accounting from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, said while this game is huge in Brazil, he understands that it's not as big of a phenomenon in the United States.
"We have a couple American friends, and we try to pass to them how we feel about soccer," Coelho said.
One of those friends was Shawn O'Donahue, who is currently attending John A. Logan and is more of a hockey fan. O'Donahue sat at the back of the room wearing an Ireland soccer jersey. During the game, he would find himself shouting words in Portuguese to fit in with his Brazilian friends.
"It's nice to see such passion in a crowd," O'Donahue said. "Not knowing Portuguese kind of makes it hard though."
The shouting in Portuguese did get loud at times, but Adams didn't mind. Even the dogs wagged their tales and perked their ears at the excitement of a near goal or a good save.
"I love it," Adams said. "It's a part of our culture."
When the second half began, the crowd went back to their spots on the couches, chairs and floor in hopes that their team could break the scoreless drought and bring the cup back to Brazil.
With almost every steal and every piece of fancy footwork the Brazilians did, the crowd would yell "Niso!"
"Wait, what does 'niso' mean?" O'Donahue asked. After one of the fans answered that it basically meant right on, O'Donahue said, "Oh, niso!"
Then, in the 67th minute, one of the Brazilian players attempted a goal, only to have it bounce off the German goalie's hands. But then Ronaldo rushed in and kicked the ball in off the rebound. Pandemonium ensued. The fans leapt to their feet, screaming and hugging each other, rivaling, if not overshadowing, the celebration on the screen. One fan raised and waved the Brazilian flag.
After the celebrations ended and the game resumed, the fans went back to watching intently with the fear of the Germans retaliating with a goal of their own, putting a damper on their dreams of seeing the Brazilians walk out of Yokohama International Stadium in Japan with the World Cup.
During the waiting and wishing for the clock to hurry up and reach 90 minutes, conversations broke out about the match and the World Cup itself.
But 12 minutes later, the crowd went from the occasional quiet conversation to screams and laughter when Ronaldo kicked in another goal, making Brazil's victory almost certain. The celebration for this goal was just as energy-filled as the last.
"Can you imagine the party in Brazil at this time?" Pinheiro asked through a broken laughter.
After the short celebration, the fans went back to watching the game nervously with fear of the German team pulling off a miracle. As they waited, they complimented the Japanese citizens who had dressed up in Brazilian colors who just came for the love of the game and also encouraged them to cheer more.
At 90 minutes, Ronaldo was taken out of the game to wild applause of the Brazilian fans. After more than three minutes of extra time, the whistle was blown and the Brazilian players broke into celebration. Their fans in Carbondale were doing the same, waving the flag and even crying out of pride and joy.
Pinheiro, grabbed a magazine showing the game schedules he had been using since the beginning of the World Cup Tournament to mark down the final score.
Coelho, walked around afterward with a smile from ear to ear and tears in his eyes. He said the feeling was overwhelming.
"I'm so happy, I can't explain," Coelho said. "Tomorrow, we start counting for the next World Cup."
Reporter Codell Rodriguez can be reached at crodriguez@dailyegyptian.com.
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
