29.November:
Slept till 1.15 am to recharge my batteries from the big day out the night before. Showered and planned to meet Imran and Sadiq at the end of the bridge going from the Metro next to Maracanã stadium. Then me and a dutch guy in our dorm, Jan Hericulus, went for a snack at my favorite place – Big Bi.
Once enjoying that delicious chicken burger with salad and cheese (no. 6) while sipping some exotic fruit juice, the rest of the party crew from our dorm came by and joined us.
the peeps from my dorm at Big Bi
I then cruised off alone as I ditched the rather expensive soccer tour being arranged through the hostel and did it on my own instead. In the end I got the whole experience for 25.60 reals (85 NOK), instead of 65 reals (215 NOK) which was what the hostel charged – so I would definitely recommend doing the trip on your own!
I got on the metro for 2.80 reals (9 NOK) and grabbed line 1 at zona norte. Before even boarding the metro, I got to know this nice and helpful guy from the south of Brazil who was visiting his brother in law. It turned out that these guys were also heading for the game and we were chatting away having a great time all the way to the stadium. On the way we got off at Estácio (at this place you don’t have to worry about which zone you’re in) and swapped over to line 2 and got off at Maracanã station. I said goodbye to my new Brazilian friend at the end of the bridge at Maracanã and started looking for Imran & Sadiq.
The area around the stadium was getting really crowded as thousands of people were just pouring into the area in front of the stadium. All around you people were sending off firecrackers into the air while some were singing and dancing next to you. All of a sudden I spotted Imran in the crowd! He and Sadiq had brought along two German girls from their hostel and we all went to get some tickets.
The tickets were normally sold for 15 reals (50 NOK), but since the ticket line was about 400m long we bought our tickets from one of the many black market sharks for 20 reals (66 NOK) – a fair price for not having to wait in that endless line. We got seats in the second floor in the green section. However, when we entered the stadium we realized that noone used the seats. Everyone were standing even 30 minutes before kick off. We got a great spot with an excellent view of the field just behind Vitoria´s goal among the most hardcore Fluminense supporters (the home supporters) – gotta love it! We quickly got some beers and watched as each section in the second floor were being filled up.
me, Imran & Sadiq pre-game
The atmosphere was electric. Fluminense started really hard already from the start and only after about 8 minutes, they got first goal. The crowd went insane! Within the next minute they got another spectacular goal to which a massive party broke out in the stands. Fireworks, glitter and balloons were going off into the sky while everyone were jumping and singing in pure ecstasy. You could feel the concrete moving – happiness was all around you
some of the atmosphere in the stands
Two minutes later a huge blast from some kind of bomb went off and we could feel the great pressure wave hitting us. The closest 4000 people turned around, but we were unable to figure out if anybody got hurt.
Twenty five minutes into the second half, Fluminense scored their third goal – Vitoria were getting crushed! A bit later a riot broke out in the middle of the field and people on the side line rushed in! This lasted for a good 7-8 minutes before it all cleared up and the game could continue.. A couple of minutes before full time Vitoria got a red card and merely moments later we were celebrating Fluminense´s fourth goal!
After the game, the halls in the stadium were filled with singing and dancing fans waving flags while some of them were shooting up firecrackers inside! It was nuts! The atmosphere was incredible and the crowd´s mood through the roof.
fans celebrating the victory from a pillar in the hallway
At the subway I took farewell with my two Canadian friends and we all agreed that this was definitely not going to be the last time met up to have a legendary time together!
Filed under: Brazil Tagged: | 4-0, Fluminense vs. Vitoria, Imran & Sadiq, Maracanã
