Futebol

Sports are a big part of any country’s culture and Brasil is not the exception. Although Brasil is great in many sports, the main practiced and followed one is Football or Futebol. In Brasil, futebol is more than a sport, it is part of the identity of the country. Many people even think of futebol when they think of Brasil. For some people, the sport is even almost a religion or a way of identifying themselves. We learned about different clubs in Brasil. People aren’t fans of clubs just because they are from their city, but because they represent something. For example, Sao Paulo FC is the club for the upper class in Sao Paulo. Fans from other clubs see them as weak and delicate and call them Bambie to suggest that they are gay. Whereas SC Corinthians Paulista is a club from the same city, but they are called the club of the people. The club wasn’t formed by people from the upper class and their first followers were people from the lower class. Their fans are people that come from the lower classes or that believe in equality and disagree with the mistreatment of the higher classes. Just like these 2, there are many more clubs in Brasil with their own identity.

Futebol is a sport that requires talent, passion and creativity more than anything else. This could explain why Brasilians are particularly good at the sport. Brasilians, just like all latinos are very passionate people. They are very sentimental and they love very intensely. Therefore, when they set their emotions in Futebol they are very passionate about it and give it everything they have. Because of the history of the country; being slaved and having to obey Portugal, and then fighting for freedom and creating its own path, Brasil has a hard time following orders, and it is reflected in the way they play futebol. They aren’t as structured and methodical as european countries. Brasilians rely more on talent and feelings. When they play, they look comfortable, more fluid and more invested emotionally in the game. They often use very creative plays, and in Futebol, that is necessary since you have to surprise your opponent and find your own style, which is another reason why Brasilians excel in futebol. Also, Brasil has a very large poor population and for many kids in favelas, becoming a professional futebol player is their biggest dream and way of getting out their situation, so they give futebol everything they have.

It is very common for fights to happen between different futebol fans. But it is because of how serious and how dedicated Brasilians are to futebol. Some people have tattoos of their teams and wear clothes of their teams. Some fights can be friendly, for example, we were in the museum of futebol in Sao Paulo and my friend was buying keychains for her family. She was buying two Santos keychains since Pele and Neymar played in it and it is one of the most recognized Brasilians clubs outside of the country. However, one of the employees of the store was a SPFC fan and was trying to convince her to get a SPFC keychain. The other employee was a Santos fan and they started arguing and giving her reasons why their team was the best. At the end, the SPFC guy changed one of her santos keychain for an SPFC one and was like there one of each. We thought it was funny and friend agreed. Unfortunately, not all fights can be that friendly. There are many occasions when people are killed.

During our trip to Curitiba, we went to a futebol game of Coritiba vs Flamenco. As soon as we went into the stadium, the sound of the drums played by the torcida filled our ears. It filled me with warm memories and took me back to the games that I went to when I was growing up. In reality, futebol is part of almost every country's culture except for the US. For this reason, for my American classmates, this was a completely new and different experience. The level of commitment of different fans was obvious. The torcida never stopped playing music and singing throughout the whole game. I found that to be normal since that is the way it is for many teams, but the rest of the group was surprised at their energy and wondered how they never got tired. There were some fans that got really sad and upset when Coritiba made a missed or Flamenco was close to scoring. People transform during a game. Women, elders and kids were insulting and cursing at the other team. Flamenco is a better team, so it was very possible that Coritiba was going to lose. However, at the end of the game, when Coritiba 2-0, grown men were crying.

However, even though clubs divide some Brasilians, it is a great experience to see the whole country united when the national team is playing. Futebol is a sport that represents a lot in all the world and especially in Brasil and understanding it is important to understand Brasil and its people.