Guus Hiddink!


Alright, the dream is over. Brazil's going home.

At this moment, I start my campaign to have dutch Guus Hiddink as our new coach. Imagine that...

Cheers.

Es el campeón de la gente (by Antonio Serpa)

Hay decenas de miles de personas que tomaron las calles y gritan, y saludan. Un moreno de unos 40 años va detrás del tanque de la ONU desde el cual asoma Ronaldo y llora y mueve la cabeza como si estuviera viviendo otra vida. Hay gente subida a las terrazas de los edificios y trepada a grúas de la construcción para ver mejor a los ídolos. El griterío no para y los soldados no pueden contener a los fanáticos, que se cruzan delante del tanque y son capaces de cualquier cosa por un autógrafo o por una mirada de Roberto Carlos o de Ronaldinho. No es una película. Es la realidad. Ocurrió en las calles de Puerto Príncipe el 18 de agosto de 2004, cuando la selección brasileña visitó —en misión de paz— Haití, el país más pobre de América. Un país convulsionado que detuvo por un día sus diferencias. Hubo un partido, claro, para el que se pagaron hasta diez dólares de entrada cuando hay familias que viven allí con menos de un dólar diario. Es apenas una muestra de la locura del mundo, de sus injusticias y miserias (que excede un abismo el tema de esta nota), y de lo que es capaz de generar Brasil.

Ya había ocurrido algo similar con el Santos de Pelé en 1969. Eran días en los que el fútbol espectáculo de aquél era requerido por todo el mundo. Incluso desde el Congo, que andaba en plena guerra civil. Como ocurría en la Antigua Grecia durante los Juegos Olímpicos, se acordó por aquellos días un armisticio para que todos pudieran gozar del equipo símbolo.

Brasil es la selección de mayor convocatoria en todo el planeta (y zonas aledañas). Capaz de colmar con 30.000 personas un estadio en Budapest o en Offenbach, un pueblo alemán a 70 kilómetros de Frankfurt. Ni hace falta un partido, basta con anunciar un entrenamiento a puertas abiertas. En Bergisch Gladbach, población perdida en los alrededores de Colonia, los negocios cambiaron sus horarios de atención. En la rica Königstein había fans que hacían guardia las 24 horas.

Hay gente que viaja miles de kilómetros sin entrada y que ofrece hasta mil euros para ver en acción de Mundial a los fenómenos. Con tal de conseguir una nota con ellos, las principales cadenas mexicanas de TV contratan modelos, les hacen un curso intensivo de periodismo y las mandan al Mundial vestidas para matar, con un micrófono en la mano. Mientras ellas hablan con los jugadores en la zona mixta, a través de los alambrados vuelan remeras y osos, y suenan, histéricos, los gritos de las fans: "Ro-nal-di-nhooooo". En Weggis, Suiza, una invadió el campo y se tiró encima del número 10, lo abrazó, lo besó. Envidiada.

Precisamente, el gobierno suizo pagó 1.500.000 dólares para que el Scratch hiciera allí la preparación para este Mundial. Se construyeron tribunas con capacidad para 5.000 personas, y las localidades para ver los ensayos —cotizaban hasta a 20 euros— se agotaron antes de que el plantel llegara. ¿Qué tiene Brasil? "Es la forma de ser abierta. Y su fútbol alegre. Por eso la gente quiere a los muchachos. Vienen los asiáticos y les regalan relojes, ropa, de todo", explica Rodrigo Paiva, el jefe de prensa. Tostao, que vivió como jugador la época de Pelé y vive como periodista ésta, da su teoría: "Atrae por su manera de jugar y porque es pentacampeón. También por Pelé, que nos dio un enorme prestigio. Y los europeos nos ven como un país exótico, el de la samba, el carnaval, la diversión y el fútbol-arte".

¿Cómo puede ser, si no, que antes del Mundial se vendieran en Alemania más camisetas de Brasil que del local? Sí, sólo Brasil lo puede. El todopoderoso Brasil. El eterno campeón.

From Olé, argentinian sports diary. Sorry to those who cannot read it.

Dryin' up France

That's what we usually do to opponents, dry 'em up!



Au revoir ;)

Achtung!

Beware, y'all. His time is to come soon.

On the move!

Right fellas, time to decide where the next stop is. Didn't take long to figure out that a long haul flight to Hong Kong (with a stop in South Africa) sounds perfect. So, places unknown, here I come!

Cheers!

And the magic returns!

Well, after a somewhat incredule period on my behalf, seems like the magic is back when it comes to football.

Tonight's match between Corinthians and Vasco da Gama came as blessing to us, die-hard Timão (the way the São Paulo team is affectionally called by their followers) fanatics. Those 90 minutes brought back the memories we were used to, of a hard-fighting team who never gives up no matter how bad the odds might be.

Corinthians, after being short of a player for most of the first half, saw a very bleak horizon on its way after Vasco scored a couple of gols very early into the second half. Nonetheless - and after a Vasco player was also sent off, leveling the number of men on the field -, a couple of well-executed plays by midfielder Carlos Alberto, brought from then european champions Porto for a huge amount of euros, resulted in two gols by Rafael Moura, the He-Man himself.

Moura was sent off, along with another Vasco player, soon after that. Being a match played at nine-a-side, spaces were left open and decent football could be executed from both parts.

Close to the end of the match, forward Nilmar's perfectly executed - and beautiful - play resulted in a penalty shot for Corinthians. Carlos Alberto had a second chance at scoring - the first try was blocked by Vasco's goalkeeper,who had irregularly left the goal line, thus prompting the referee to call back the shot - and converted it, making the game 3 -2 for Timão.

Just after that, Vasco had a goal declared illegal, since forward Edílson (an ex-Corinthians player) had thrust the ball into the goal using his arm. A few moments later, Nilmar repeated his dribbling attack that again resulted in a penalty shot for Corinthians. Defender Marcelo Mattos took his chance and scored: 4-2.

The match was a helluva good game, both teams were playing some really good football on the pitch, just the kind of stuff we need to believe again in the greatness of brazilian football. Nothing better, since Germany 2006 is almost starting and the Seleção, our national team, is simply magic.

One thing comes to mind, tho: how well would european teams like Barcelona, Arsenal, Milan or Real Madrid fare if they played our yearly national? Maybe they'd secure a spot for the South American Cup, I suppose... winning it, of course, would be a completely different matter.

Iki, all of you.

And the cold comes...

Hello all. Well, I've been quite busy working and wandering around the country these past weeks - thus my inability to keep uo to date posts. Not that I'd do that if I was at home doing nothing, no; blogs are, in their essence, never up to date.

Anyway, seems like the weather is, sadly, actually becoming colder here in São Paulo. Me and some lads from high school went to Campos to Jordão this past weekend - a nice town located in the Mantiqueira mountain range - to have some barbecue and to catch up with each other's gossips. So, we ate ostrich meat, drank a large amout of beer and scotch, talked (and fought over) politics and froze up there, since t'was 2 C by night. Ack, ack.

Other than that, just waiting for the weekend to come: can't wait to see The Prodigy live. Maybe off to a photo shoot around São Paulo to boost up the WikiTravel page...

Cheers.

Ah, the wonders of modern digital life...

Well, from time to time, I usually stumble across some cool thing on the Internet. This time (no, it's not www.chucknorrisfacts.com - but that's cool too!) it's Textamerica, a photoblog kinda thing that allows you to post pics from your mobile phone, real-time, no bullshit. Really nice whenever you're on a trip and want to share those special moments with those friends of yours who spend the whole day sittin' in front of a stupid computer writing about political gossip or reading unending Excel charts.

Enjoy, lads.

Ingrid


Girls we love, pt. II - Ingrid Bergman, born in Stockholm, Sweden, actress. 

Fiona


Girls we love, pt. I - Fiona Apple, born in New York, USA, singer and songwriter. 

International Women's Day

International Women's Day (IWD) is marked on 8 March every year. It is a major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women. The first IWD was observed on 28 February 1909 in the United States following a declaration by the Socialist Party of America. Among other relevant historic events, it commemorates the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire (New York, 1911), where over 140 women lost their lives.

Thanks a lot, girls, for being who you are! Be always happy!