Ah, Hell. Let's grab a beer.

   This is a blog about my experiences in Brazil for the 2014 World Cup.  As I'm writing this, my days here in Brazil are coming to a close.  Although I’m ready to get back to Seattle to see my family, friends, girlfriend and get back to work, I’m going to leave Brazil with so many different valuable things. Memories, a newfound appreciation and love for the Brazilian culture and people, as well as an ever increasing pride for my home, the United States of America, and their National Men’s soccer team especially after a spirited knockout stage performance on Tuesday. 

   The final whistle vs. Belgium had gone.  Another stressful day at the office.  This time accompanied by feelings of despondence rather than jubilation.  Sad? Yep. Upset? You bet. Speechless? Of course. I continually juggled in my mind what could have been if this or that, how it could have been, whatever. As Bennett, Ben, Ari and I dejectedly walked away from the 2-1 defeat, our heavy heads tried to concentrate on our feet kicking up the imaginary dust on the clean concrete sidewalk.  We had set on returning to the house instead of staying out so we could kick this sore throat that had hit us all. Before we could hail a taxi, we heard some guys about 50 yards away yelling at us.  “USA!! What a great game, guys! We love America!”  A quick hand in the air and a wave of acknowledgement to shut them up would be sufficient.  “Come have a beer with us, guys!  Come on, it’s on us!”  We walked on in our haze of disbelief, our sour moods keeping our lethargic pace.  One more shout came, and I gave a half roll of the eyes as I said to the guys “Ah, Hell, let’s grab a beer.”

   We turned around and joined a group of 7-8 guys ranging from about 35-55, all hanging around a taco truck-like structure with Heinekens in hand.  We feinted smiles as we entered the area and noticed all of their faces lit with excitement and encouragement.  Maybe beer, as well.  I first shook the hand of Carlos, a short, bald, overweight Brazilian, who ordered us four Heinekens.  He had the biggest, and admittedly the dumbest-looking grin out of the lot.  I couldn't stop my fake smile from turning sincere before I even said a word.  The Rev. Al Sharpton-look-alike behind the counter pulled the beers out of the fridge and wrapped the twist-off tops with a napkin to help the grip.  Nursing my way through the Heineken, I wasn't in a mood to drink, and already had more than I should have while recovering from a cold.  Every gulp stabbed my throat, and I was out of cough drops. 

   We finished the first beer with a lack of conviction.  I don’t really recall exactly what we talked about at first – futbol in Brazil, in the States, American Football, Seattle, a couple stories on all sides, I don’t know, and it doesn't quite matter.  My smile indicated my response to the offer at a second beer, still a bit dejected but in much higher spirits than the first.  By this point we were very comfortable talking, joking and sharing stories with the guys. My mind wondered in and out of the Belgium game, but it was far from hogging my thoughts like it was 20 minutes prior.  Instead, my mood was being set by our new acquaintances - a group of bankers that work together down the street.  Carlos has been many of their “English teacher” for a few years.  What started with teaching his co-workers a few words here and there turned into four or five guys becoming very competent in the English language.  This story stuck out to us, no question.  It was far from the best story they were to tell all night.

   As I sat down and opened another beer, we posed for a picture for one of the guys that didn't speak any English.  We were told he was sending the picture to his friend living in the states.  Tiago(pronounced chee-ah-go in this part of the country), who spoke the best English due to living in Australia for nine years, sat across from us and offered to tell the story about how this “piece of shit beer stand” came about.  I always love a good story, and as it appeared, he liked telling them.

   The guy behind the counter, we’ll call him Al(I'm associating him to Al Sharpton's heavier years), was homeless five years ago.  One day, he rode his motorbike with a cooler full of beer strapped to the back to the busy street corner just outside of downtown, put the cooler on the ground and started selling for $4 Reis(about $2 American).  The group got off work together that day and said “Ah, Hell, let’s grab a beer”. 

   The bankers walked up and got a beer. Then another, then another, and another.  Al was wiped clean on his first day of his new job.  Day 2, he brought 2 coolers.  The bankers wiped him out again.  Day 3, 4 and 5 went by, Al had a new means of a modest income, and the guys had a new post-work hangout.  The motorbike with limited capacity turned into a beat-up compact car that held much more.  Al, who was living out of this car, kept providing the beer, and the bankers kept drinking. 

   Soon enough, Al saved enough money to buy a hot dog stand.  “The hot dogs were shit, but we just came to drink”, I was told from Tiago and his Australian accent.  The hot dog later stand turned into a little hut and a barbecue.  Al generally gave away his food to most people, as long as they kept buying beer.  A year or two went by and Al, no longer homeless, had added to his hut by installing an overhang, table and chairs, and even built a bathroom on the side(I didn't try it out).  Someone from the group donated a TV and the place was as good as home.  Today, he sells barbecued and fried food, non-perishable snacks like chips and candy.  Oh and I guess alcohol as well.  Al is living the American dream.  An idea combined with hard work, struggle, grit, determination and a little bit of luck brought him from living on the streets to running his own successful and sustainable business.  I had Tiago translate to him that I love his story, it’s wonderful to hear his success, and it’s the perfect example of the American Dream.  My words to him seemed to mean as much as his story did to me(as did the $20 Reis tip).

 We left the street corner all smiles – energetic, happy, and very thankful for that small phrase.  One that turned Al's life, turned our moods, and one that continues to bring these bankers together year after year, evening after evening, beer after beer.

“Ah Hell, let’s grab a beer.”

Tiago bottom, Al to his right, Carlos above to Tiago's left

David's favorite 11 players in the final 8

A little late as two teams are already eliminated, but here-goes.  Notice I said favorite - not necessarily best.  The World Cup is a great time for young up and comers to shine, so this list is a bit biased towards young players.

Goalkeeper:  

Manuel Neuer - Germany.  Great with his feet, so valuable coming off his line so Germany can press high, great in the air, very good shot stopper as well.   Timmy Howard would be here if USA had squeaked through.

Defenders:  
David Luiz - Brazil CB.  Great tackler, very smart picking off passes and tracking runners, a confident distributor, can dribble like a midfielder, great in the air and a master with set pieces from distance.  Can play holding CM if needed, but I don't think we'll see that as Tiago Silva is out vs. Germany and I predict Germany 3-1 Brazil in the Semis.

Patrice Evra - France RB. Invaluable as a 1v1 defender, great distributor, his experience is huge for any world cup team.  In my opinion he's a very underrated player in the EPL as well.

Pablo Zabaleta - Argentina Wing back.  Remember I said favorite, not best.  Perhaps the most dynamic defender out of the last 8.  He gets caught too high and lost defensively a bit, but a hard-nosed workhorse, fantastic going forward and a menace to any Argentinian opponent's left side.

Midfielders:
Paul Pogba - France DCM.  Possibly my favorite player in the cup.  A young star that ran the field while France was still in it.  Fantastic possessing on the ball, great distributor, great break-up player as a lone DCM in France's 4-3-3.

James Rodriguez - Columbia ACM.  An absolute firecracker that can score from anywhere.  Scored 6 goals before he lost just a few minutes ago.  Turns 23 next Saturday, and will likely be pushing for Miroslav Klose's 15 World Cup career goals record.

Nigel De Jong - Netherlands DCM.  Invaluable to Netherlands, and it showed vs. Mexico once he went out early in the game.  His positioning is second to nobody(less maybe Pirlo).  I love his physical defensive style of play. He's great in possession and competent on the ball - he might not beat many people 1v1, but he doesn't need to, just break pressure and possess.

Neymar - Brazil ACM.  Best I've ever seen running with the ball(sprinting with the ball, really).  His skill and versatility speaks for itself, and he's excelled in the spotlight of the host fans with the highest expectations.

Forwards:
Arjen Robben - Netherlands.  Love him or hate him for his embellishment, the guy can play.  He can absolutely take over a game, like he did vs. Mexico and Spain.  Speed, ball control, unpredictable, great distributor in the final third, and a fantastic finisher.

Joel Campbell - Costa Rica.  Can play out wide or up top as an out-and-out striker.  The Arsenal man(loaned to Olympiacos) is fantastic holding the ball up, fast, skilled, and powerful.  The young stud will be a forced difficult to contain in the next couple years.  It will be very interesting seeing him vs. Netherlands tomorrow.

Thomas Muller - 4 goals in the tournament thus far, but wasn't very impressive vs. Algeria.  Muller is a typical german Goal Scorer.  Fast, powerful, but most importantly is smart in front of the goal and can finish in dangerous spots.  He's a player that not only will score himself, but get assists and create goal scoring chances for his teammates.


Honorable mentions:
-Hugo Lloris - France Goalkeeper.  All-around quality goalkeeper.  I don't like him cause he's a Spur, so I couldn't possibly put him in the top.
-Phillip Lahm - Germany Defender.  Can play left or right, and also played great vs. Algeria as a holding midfielder.  The German captain's leadership, experience, services into the box, 1v1 defending and versatility is unmatched.  He should take Zabaleta's place, honestly, but I'll stick to it for no good reason.
-Angel Di Maria - Argentina Winger(not sure to put him with mids or forwards).  The man can play.  He can play left or right, but mainly will play on the left.  Fast, great crosser, great finisher. Cuts inside well.
-Fernandinho - Brazil Holding Midfielder.  Had to win the starting role from a disappointing Paulinho, but after he did has never looked back.  Very good on the ball, works his tail off for 90 minutes, great distributor and great at breaking up plays in the midfield on a underwhelming Brazilian side.
-Rafael Varane - France Center Back.  the 20-year old is a regular starter at Real Madrid, as well as the #1 choice CB for France.  Wise well beyond his years and will be one of the all-time greats if he keeps it up.
-Javier Mascherano - Argentina Holding CM.  The Barcelona CB has shown his versatility playing as a lone CM in Argentina's 3-5-2 with wing-backs.  He has a ton of space to manage and is the only player on the Argentine 23 that can do that job.
-Lionel Messi.  Enough said.
-Luis Suarez.  Just kidding.

Locals vs. Gringos

One big thing we really wanted to do in Brazil was play some futbol with the locals.  Futsal, Beach soccer, even on a dirt or grass pitch.  We just wanted to play.  It was 2 weeks in before we finally got the chance, and how sweet it was.

We got to the beach around 11 and met up with Kyle and his group.  They had just finished kicking the ball around with some kids, so we spent an couple hours just sitting around on the beach.  After they went to lunch, Bennett and I walked the beach until we found a game.  The sand was shin-deep, the players weren't great, and the hog in the Germany jersey on our team didn't know the concept of passing or teamwork.  A little unsatisfying, but still fun.  Bennett and I were clearly the best players, so we moved on after 20 minutes.

We met up again with Kyle and his group after they finished lunch.  We sat down at a huge futsal area with 4 courts in a quadrant followed by courts and fields as far as the eye could see up the street. Every court was filled with 5v5 plus at least 10 people on each sideline, either waiting to play or just watching. The best game was front and center.  These boys could play.  This is where we wanted to be.  At first it was fun just watching them.  We didn't think we were going to be able to get on the court as it was only locals.  Nobody was wearing shoes.  Teams were just understood or figured out - no shirts v skins or lights v darks. Rules were very lax, and a little shirt grab, hack to the ankles or high elbow was fairly common. Not really understanding the atmosphere or the players at the time, I thought a fight would break out on a couple of occasions.  They were arguing, a couple pushes and aggressive finger-pointing, but nothing malicious...  To their standards.

We gathered our team, laced up our shoes(I was barefoot), got in position to be in line to play, and we waited.  We waited with the sun on our backs.  We waited as the sun started going down.  We waited as the sky turned from light blue to yellow to light orange.  Finally the final goal went in on the game before us, and we walked onto the cement court.  Winners start with the ball.  Game time.

"Gringooos!"  We were well used to being called that.  Hell, I kinda liked it.  The game kicked off and it was of pace and quality - two or three of their players were very skilled - great control, quick little buggers, could put it on frame from anywhere and were smart defensively. Notice all the sole of the foot everyone used.  We gave up the first goal after a minute or two.  After waiting this long, we weren't going to go out that fast.   It seemed to take us a couple minutes to really figure out the game, but we started getting 2 people wide once I got the ball, having 3 options to move the ball quickly.  See James facing towards me wide left.

Bennett(White shirt) took over the game with a sweet bit of dribbling before punching a ball into Kyle(long blonde hair with red shoes) who did a moving cruyff-flick to slot it back post to tie it up. We quickly took the upper hand and won 3-1.  Here's a content Bennett after the first goal

We lost the second game 3-2 by giving up goals from a mix-up that gave them a tap-in, then a deflected own goal.  The sky had changed to red by this point and it was time to move on.  A beautiful evening - my favorite picture below.

Out of all the cool stuff we've done, this really ranks up there as one of my top single memories of the trip.  It was rugged, scrappy, a little unexpected and a heck of a game.  We got to play in a few more games after that, which were all a lot of fun, no question.  These games, in Brasilia, the much wealthier national capital, were much cleaner than the game in the poverty-ridden Recife.

The Red, The White and The Flood

The following is a description of the events that occurred on Thursday, June 26.

   I woke up with butterflies in my stomach around 8:30.  We didn't get to sleep until 2am as our friends Raquel, Joel, Zach and Scott came in at midnight and we stayed up chatting and watching condensed match replays of games we've seen twice already.   Iara and Isabella, our hosts, came to the apartment every morning to cook us breakfast.  An absolute feast.  grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, eggs, fruit, coffee, juice... more than we can possibly handle.  Neither one of them speaks more than a handful of words in English, so communicating is very difficult.  Thank God for Google Translate.  We got out of the apartment at around 10:30 after trying to communicate with Iara to figure out the best route.  She took Zach and Scott to the taxi station before looping back to pick us up.

   We got to the main road and had to go rather slowly, there was 3-4 inches of brown water streaming down the street. After backtracking to get on the main road, we finally turned left onto the street next to the beach and drive north for a couple slow kilometers.  We had to pick up the tickets, so turned left on a very busy road.  It wasn't promising.  Cars packed in the street.  Motorbikes with half of their wheels submerged spraying excess water onto our windshield.  We got back on track after picking up the tickets at a hotel, crawling only a car length or two every minute.  Finally a group of kids splashed their way through the middle of the traffic to yell and signal to Iara not to drive past the next block, as the flooding was too severe for her car to handle.  What a fun day for these kids – no shirts, obviously with good intentions, just having fun together directing traffic during the heaviest rainstorm in Recife in years. There was over 3 inches of rain reported that morning before 9am.

   The back streets would actually end up being better anyway. Until we hit the next main street.  This is where it got even more interesting.  Hitting more traffic, we were able to cut through to get onto a street that would take us close to the train station.  We turn right and look in front of us to find the street we want to be on – no cars on the road.  That would have been very exciting, the only problem is that the road was also flooded, over a foot deep.  Another group of 4-5 kids fumbled into the screen, this time teaming together to push another compact car through the river to the next street. They succeeded in getting the car to the other side of the road, smiles from ear to ear.  A quick wave and it was off to the next struggling driver.  Bennett, Raquel, Joel and I couldn’t believe our eyes.  We ended up cutting through a gas station and stop to contemplate entering the river.  Joel suggested the sidewalk.  So that happened.  Barely getting off the sidewalk back onto the safe street, we were finally near the train station.

   We ran up the train and were well on our way to the stadium.  About 10 stops, a train transfer followed by another six or seven stops and we were at the stadium stop.  The train ride was crazy, as we were packed to the brim with other Americans, not because we were all stressed, sweaty, ticked and wet, but because of what was outside.  Flooding everywhere, as we had already seen, but the ride showed a whole different part of Recife that we had not yet been introduced to yet.  Slums.  The real slums.  Bennett and I didn’t need to say anything to each other, just a quick glance to make sure we were seeing the same thing.  Scattered pieces of wood, metal, cardboard even comprised the structure of the houses.  Plastic roofs if they were lucky.  Houses the size of my closet.  Many raised up on stilts to handle this exact event.  My guess is that many people living in this area were soaked inside of these shambled boxes.  No wonder there is so much crime in Brazil – the salary for a minimum wage worker is $760 Reis(Brazilian Currency) a year – equal to about $360 dollars.  Expenses and cost of living is lower than USA, but not by a significant amount. Here is the best picture I could get. There was another section that was much, much worse.

   After the slums, we got to the stadium stop, which was still about 3 km away. Busses next, racing the hundreds of other fans to get onto the first bus at 1:20pm for the 1:00 game.  As we finally got a glimpse of the first stadium vendor at the bottom of the hill about a half a kilometer away, the bus started slowing down, and pulled into a stop.  Moans and groans accompanied everyone’s realization that we had to walk the rest of the way.  We got off the bus, and I looked to Joel.  “Want to get a move on?”  So we ran.  Half a kilometer to the bottom of the hill, then another half a kilometer to the stadium entry.  I divvied out the remaining tickets to my friends and we finally got inside.  We’re on the 4^th level, opposite side of the stadium.  Soaked, sweaty, scared and excited, we put our heads down and ran some more.  As I passed the sign for the second tier, I picked up the pace.  A little glimmer of hope – a burst of energy overwhelmed me.  I realized what just happened, what I had just been through and where I was going.  I’m about to watch USA vs. Germany in the final group stage match in the World Cup in Brazil.  A couple yells and shrieks of encouragement and we were all nearing a sprint as we got to our section.  The numbering was horrible, and two different stadium personnel pointed us up the wrong staircase after showing them our tickets.  We finally sat down, but only for a minute.  Bennett and I shared a quick moment of embracing and celebration before devoting our full attention to the game.  35^th minute.  Let’s get started.

   The game was rather boring, honestly.  Two teams understanding their fate – USA trying to not lose 4-0, Germany trying to at least tie.  Once Muller scored, nothing really changed.  The majority of the 55 minutes of the game was devoted to soaking in the experience, taking pictures, checking with the American behind us for score updates for the Ghana/Portugal game, looking around at the fans and cheering.  Once Ronaldo scored for Portugal in the 80^th, minute, the American celebration of a 1-0 loss had begun.  Once the final whistle blew, we all celebrated.  Americans and Germans embracing one another, taking pictures together, singing, dancing, and drinking.  We sat around in our nosebleeds and hung out with everyone else.  We slowly made our way to the 1^st level, where we found a German group of Germans celebrating in German soccer songs.  Their call and repeat was really cool, I got a few seconds of it on video.  They also did a chant where they all yelled “get down” or something in German, then jumped up at the same time and started singing again.   After another 10 minutes of recruiting a big group of Americans for the below photo, we slowly made our way out of the stadium so we would miss the rush of people getting out of the stadium.

   Stopping for a beer outside from the vendors at a roundabout, it was a big party.  Mostly Americans, but scattered of everyone, a few people were taking advantage of the warm temperature and intense rain, the grass area inside the roundabout was quickly turned into a Brazilian slip n’ slide.   After a few minutes, Bennett says “should I do it?”  He really didn’t have a choice after those words.  So I joined him.  I won’t show the video, but here's the after affects.

   We apparently one-upped everyone else, but the other two slip-and-sliders spent some time hanging out with us.  We ended up hanging out with drunk guy to my right for a long time that night.  I gathered that he was actually kind of cool once he sobered up... five hours later.  As we were walking back to the bus with drunk guy and his sober friends, we got to talking to a guy that had a GoPro on a stick, he got our slide on video.  Turns out, he is a player on a certain Seattle Seahawks Football team(the Pro-Bowler asked to stay private).   We took the bus with drunk guy, Seahawk and Seahawk’s brother the dentist back to the train.  We got some great USA chants – Yanks go marching in,  I believe, USA, We Love Ya just off the top of my head.  The bus administrators in front of us were blown away at the energy everyone was bringing.  Germans led one chant, then we led one. Back and forth it went. I'm going to try to load a video when I get home, but it's not coming up properly today.

   After getting off the bus, It was a crammed walk up the ramp to the entrance of the train.  Lining the streets were a bunch of locals – kids of all ages, mostly, all yelling and screaming USA and “America”.   It was really cool.  The eight stops, train transfer and other 8 or 9 stops was quite another experience, details aside.

   We took a cab to the Fan Fest area to sit and relax a bit.  There was still a good amount of other people out and about, as it was only 5 or 6 by then.  The sun was gone and after relaxing for an hour or two, we were ready for the next chapter of the night.  We cabbed back to a bar called The Underground pub which was a mix of people from the states, England and Brazil.  I bought a Budwiser and Jack Daniels because it felt right.  We spent more hilarious time with Seahawk and his crew, met new people, sung a couple more USA chants, and Bennett and I had a great time chatting with Bea - a Brazilian girl that speaks good English.  She also went to the game with a friend, but unfortunately had German gear on.  We talked about Portuguese and American words and their meanings, creepy guys at bars, and we all took turns bragging about our significant others.  By the end of our chat, she was in full support of the USA.   A job well done by us.

We headed home at around 1am with a good buzz of alcohol, pride and amazement.

Absolutely Fantastic

Meet Stanlei Klein

Stenlei is Iolanda's father.  He is nearing retirement as a chemistry professor at a prestigious university in Araracuara. He and his wife live in a beautiful house just outside of downtown with a lovely garden, small pool, covered barbecue patio and another covered area with a pool table.  Pockets in Brazilian tables are smaller.   I've realized how terrible I am at their game.  The Kleins have three daughters ranging from 29-35 years.

Stanlei was very excited to have us in his home for five days, and I can't describe exactly how much fun it has been.  On the second day, as he was finishing preparing and marinating wild goat leg and ribs for the evening's party, I wandered around the house and took a look at his music collection.  He has hundreds of CDs in a glass case in the middle of the house.  It took me only a few seconds to realize two things.  1) We have IDENTICAL taste in music.   2) He knows his stuff.   My favorite bands consist of Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Crosby, Stills and Nash, The Rolling Stones and Stevie Ray Vaughan.  He has everything.  Every Zeppelin album, two copies of every Pink Floyd album, including Animals(Impossible to find on Vinyl), 7 or 8 of Jimi, Stones and Stevie Ray.  Our favorite CSN album is Deja Vu.  Our favorite Pink album is Dark Side of the Moon(not terribly surprising).  We both love Bob Dylan as a lyricist, but don't like his style of music.  Other bands in his collection consist of The Beatles, Jethro Tull, Nirvana, U2, Santana, Allman Brothers, Simon and Garfunkel and many more.

     Absolutely Fantastic.

I chased him down as soon as I could stop admiring his collection.  He had just finished with the goat and was drying his hands.  I told him what I had just discovered, and our similar tastes in music.  He immediately smiled and shook my hand.  We walked back to his CDs and he showed me some of his favorites, we talked about what we liked about different bands.  When I say "we talked", I mean he explained in perfect detail what was happening in different songs, and I listened and tried to keep up.   I am relatively new into following and enjoying classic quality music - I got my record player in March of 2013.  He explained things about songs that I have been listening to consistently for over a year that I had never been able to hear, and in turn, enjoy.  His description of the art of the slide guitar, our favorite style of guitar playing, was spot on.  He would go on to describe how certain songs and bands remind him more of an orchestral composition over a rock song the way certain instruments are put together.  He had the highest regard for Jethro Tull.  The band consists of drums, classical guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, flute and an electric piano that switches from classic to a synthesizer sound.  One of their most popular songs is Thick as a Brick.  I have it on my most played playlist on Spotify, and have probably heard it 50 times.  As many times as I've heard it, I've never really heard it.  I've listened to it, but I've never listened to it.  Turns out, Thick as a Brick is not only a song, but also a Full album!  A 43-minute song.  It only took me one time listening to it to change my opinion.

     Absolutely Fantastic.

I'm outside next to the pool on Tuesday afternoon.  It's about 75 degrees, a slight breeze and not a cloud in the sky(yes, it's in the middle of winter here).  I'm watching the sun slowly slip behind the neighbor's house. The shade from the peak comprised of clay tiles is slowly crawling up my chest.  My head phones shut me off from any other thoughts.  Just my pen and paper as company.  Thick as a Brick starts slow.  Light drum work, simple lyrics and a soothing acoustic guitar quickly followed by soft flute work.  My toes move with the guitar.  Piano enters as the flute takes a short break before livening up again.  My head starts to bounce with the flute.  A little electric guitar before a more vigorous feel from the flute and matching drums.  I'm clenching my jaw while softly swaying my head rhythmically in no specific path.   The whole song flows in and out of peaceful folk to stressful but rhythmic hard rock and the slightest hint of jazz and something I just don't understand.  It's not a song, not an album, but an experience.  Stanlei admitted that after listening to it, he can be pulled out of any sour mood.  Getting well past the 40-minute mark, the experience elevates in tempo for the last time, flute and electric guitar in the forefront with the style of my body movement to the music provided by the back and forth bouncing of the drum and bass together.  The orchestral feeling is alive with a small inclusion of a string ensemble before closing with the electric keyboard followed by a soft acoustic guitar with the lead singer's final chorus.  The sun was barely completely out of direct sight with the closing words of "cause you're thick... as a brick". It went far beyond pleasing my auditory senses as a soothing song.  I didn't only listen to it, I felt it.  A sensation few musical performances have on me.

     "Absolutely Fantastic".

I'm convinced this is Stanlei's favorite phrase, which he used at least 15 times to describe music, especially during our conversation about Thick as a Brick.  A strong Brazilian accent, but a soft and graceful tone of voice.  Just as the flute and drums work together in Thick as a Brick for a perfect fit, his accent, tone of voice and the two words used, along with his use of hands are a perfect fit.

     Absolutely Fantastic.

US v Portugal

Again, 6 in the morning and I can't sleep.  What a game last night.  Who would have thought that we would be UPSET about tying with Portugal... the #4 ranked team in the world...?!?   Not only that, but we were the FAR better team.  We went to a bar in town - hoping to find a bar that was busy with people going there to watch the game.  We couldn't really find anywhere, so just went to the last bar we drove by.   It was a cracker of a game, so by 30 minutes in, everyone who was there to eat or socialize ended up being glued to the game.   I probably only sat for 10 minutes in total during the second half.  I was up and down like the obnoxious American I am.   Bennett and I both think that our cheering created a pro-USA mentality throughout the bar, as everyone seemed to be cheering for USA by the end of the game.  I didn't really notice anyone else all game, though.   What a game.    And yes, if you're wondering, I was Free'd up from the Feet up.  Stars and Stripes Vans high-tops, USA Flag socks, USMNT scarf.  I left my flag bandana in the car.  The only thing I was missing was Uncle Sam boxers.

Here are my thoughts for the game:

US changed from a 4-4-2 diamond midfield to a 4-2-3-1.  Dempsey playing the high forward, Bradley right behind him.  I think this was the right choice vs. Portugal, regardless of Altidore's availability. the diamond midfield leaves us open at DCM and we don't have the skill in the midfield to possess well with tight outside midfielders.  Bradley was much better in the role of ACM in this formation, although I still think he's better than how he played yesterday.    Once we settled in 5-10 minutes after the goal, and Bradley was able to trust the defensive work of his DCMs, the game opened up for the boys in white.   I still like Bradley better as a holding mid, as his tireless workrate and tackling capabilities are fantastic.     I expected Portugal to be a lot better.  Sure, they were missing Pepe and Fabio Coentrao, and Postiga had to come off early, but we had the run of play for practically the whole game.   Jones was absolutely fantastic.  He covered a ton of ground, broke up everything through the middle, and is Fabian Johnson's new best friend with how many times he found him wide right.  Johnson was equally fantastic.  He forced Ronaldo out of his comfort zone, spent 90 minutes working like a dog up and down the field, and did it all to a world class team in Portugal.

Howard should have done better on two occasions, but he also did his job and came up big on a few other occasions.  Let's just say he's better than Casillas :)   Other than going down a little too early on the first goal, and somehow not getting enough on the shot from distance that ended up bouncing off the post, sparking a remarkable fingertip save, he was world class.

Back line:
Beyond my expectations.  I knew  next to nothing about Fabian Johnson coming into the tournament, but he's been the most impressive US player for me. His ability to get up and down the field, services from wide positions, and his 1v1 defending skills were great.  Ronaldo couldn't get by him early in the game and started roaming.  He wasn't dangerous going through the middle, and couldn't get anything started on the left.  He had a miserable first 94 minutes and 30 seconds. I attribute a lot of that to Johnson. Unfortunately Ronaldo only needs to be brilliant once in a game to get that result.  It's not a tough statement to say Cameron was awful, missing that vital clearance, he had 1-2 more that were very poor as well.  He was also partially responsible for the final goal by letting his mark free.  Besler was good.  My expectations of Damarcus Beasley were very low to start, and I don't think he was terrible, but he was an obvious weak link on the field.  I don't remember who was marking Ronaldo when he served in the final ball, but it was on Beasley's side.

Midfield 3:
It took a little time for them to settle down.  Bradley started the game trying to do too much.  He was crowding Jones and Beckerman in the DCMs, especially in possession.  The result led to Dempsey being left alone up top because there was no link-up play.  Once Bradley settled and stayed higher, things started opening up.  I also think Beckerman wasn't quick enough overall.  Too slow to distribute on the ball, not stepping into the right spaces to link the forward 4 and the back 4, and we were open to the counter because of it.       And then there's Jones.  Oh, Jones, how you won everyone's heart yesterday.  Everyone knows how clutch and how incredibly impressive that goal was.  His break-up ability in the middle made it very difficult for Portugal to possess through the middle, especially in the middle third of the field.   I attribute much of Portugal's failure to Jones' break-up play defensively.  Covered a Bradley or Alonso amount of the field, got stuck in on numerous occasions.  He got a yellow late(which is scary going into the Germany game, we can't lose him in the 2nd round) for a soft tackle, which was probably more for persistent infringement, but I can't be sure with the level of referees thus far in the tournament  :/   Overall, I think the midfield 3 were fantastic from the 10th minute on.

Wingers/Dempsey:
I think the problem with the 4-2-3-1 is that we don't have any natural wingers.  Bedoya was absent.  Not terrible, just absent.  I can't really say if he was absent because we didn't go wide left when he was in, or if he was absent because his off-ball movement was poor.  But I don't see him starting against Germany.  I think he was likely told to be a bit more withdrawn to help Beasley on the left side.     I expected a lot more out of Zusi.  He's put on the field to send in good crosses, as he has many times before.  His corners were terrible, and I can't quite recall if he had a single good cross all game, either into a dangerous area or by picking someone out.  Then again, his sub-par corner led to the Jones wonderstrike, and he had the assist to Dempsey that put the states up 2-1, so maybe it's OK in the end.       Yedlin.YYYYeeeddddllin.   YEEEDDDLLLINNNNNNNNNNNN!   Congrats to the young man.  I knew that if he were to get in this tournament, it would be late in the game to help the back line bunker down if we were tied or beating Portugal.  His recovery speed and tenacity was huge.  It was glorious to see him send that ball in for the 2nd goal.  I totally lost it in the bar.  I'm choking up just thinking about the play.  So proud of him.        Also, I think Donovan would have been a good inclusion in this game.
Dempsey played very well.  He's a very versatile player, can play a lot of different roles in a lot of different positions and formations.  USMNT would be much different without him. It's too bad that he has to play the high forward, as I love him as a withdrawn striker, playing off of an Altidore-type player.  Martins, anyone??

Klinsmann:
The 12th man yesterday.   In Klinsmann we trust.  Made the right lineup and formation to start the game, made the right tactical subs at the right time, has prepared this young side with mediocre talent very well.  Shut down Ronaldo.  Utilized our strengths, hid our weaknesses.  Putting in Yedlin in the 70-somethingth at right wing was perfect.  The correct, but somewhat obvious decision to sub Zusi for Omar Gonzales late to preserve the victory.    Klinsmann did everything right, but as he quickly figured out, USMNT is not Germany.  Small and big mistakes made that game 2-2, nothing Klinsmann could have done better, in my opinion.

Brazil in Pictures. ...so far

A few things we've done and seen in Brazil thus far.  I haven't taken my camera many places, as it's big and screams money.

 Some building in Brasilia.

 In front of the capital building

 The "Golden Gate Bridge" of Brazil.  I guess.

 This is a beautiful country

 The sights just don't stop.

 Bennett in front of Estadio Nacional - Brasilia.  We'll be there on 6/30!

 We were way up front and center.

 At the FIFA Fan Fest.  We met a ton of people

 The guy on the right spoke English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, French, a little Italian and one or two more languages.  Wow.

 Jose - the owner/operator of Pizza do Ze.  Great memories.

 Tourist pictures!   Joao - our fantastic host - and his fantastic face.

 'Murica

 Joao's friends.  They say Bennett looks like Schweinstagger

 I'm in my own little world listening to music - Stanlei, Iolanda's dad has a phenomenal collection of music.

 Jogao - loves whisky, an awesome guy.

Iolanda on the left - Happy Birthday!

This place rocks

Learning Portuguese

As I posted before, I came to Brazil expecting to be able to get by with my basic knowledge of Spanish in order to communicate with the locals.  I’ve found that, although Spanish is more similar to Portuguese than English, which helps me drastically in learning the language by already knowing the phrasing, structure and tense organization, the words and pronunciations of letters are much different than Spanish or English. 

Some words are pronounced similarly but spelled differently.  English=Heart.  Spanish=Corazon.  Portuguese=Coracao.  Both Spanish and Portuguese are pronounced core-ah-zone.  English=team. Spanish=.  Portugese=Time.  Portuguese pronunciation is Chee-may.  Some words are totally different in every way.  (En)Joke=(Sp)chiste=(Po)piada. 

Pronunciations of many letters and groups of letters are much different and difficult for my American accent to handle.  Here are my pathetic attempts at describing Brazilian phonetics

• Ao, or oao - Ao is pronounced almost like a very fast wow. I was told to try to use my nose while saying ao.
• J - almost exclusively sounded like a soft, but slightly raspy G.  Joao is pronounced zgoh-wow, but very fast. 
• D – sounded dj.  Piada(joke) is pronounced pia-dja
• R – This is the toughest one.  No sound in the English language is used.  R’s are pronounced more like a grindy, hard H.  Recife is pronounced more like hhay-schee-fay.  Again, my pathetic attempt at Portuguese
• T – More like ch.  Time – team is pronounced Chee-may.    

When I realized how drastic the difference between the languages on Wednesday evening at the FIFA Fan Fest, I was a little afraid or nervous that I would have a difficult time communicating.  What I quickly found out was two things:  1:  All Brazilians with whom I have communicated are not only very patient with my severely limited Portuguese, they are also very happy that I’m trying(I’m trying=eu esto tantando).   Some people, like me, are trying to learn English.  We speak some sentences in very simple English, where I have to attempt to explain in Portuguese.  We will then have a very simple conversation in Portuguese, where they will have to try to explain in English when I don’t understand a word or phrase.  Our friend Joao was a very good translator, but whenever possible I’m trying to communicate without his help. 

I’m getting very good at some phrases. 

• Thank you = obrigato.  Brazilians pronounce it “bree-gat” for short
• I don’t speak Portuguese = Eu nao falo Portugese
• I don’t understand = Eu nao entendo
• Speak slower= fala mais devagar
• How do you say/pronounce/spell= Comose diz/pronuncia/escreve
• Good morning/day/afternoon/night = boa manana/dia/tarde/noite

I’ve arrived at Iolanda’s house in Araracara(sp??).  More to come on this later, but everyone speaks English in her family.  Honestly, I’m a little disappointed I won’t be pushed to continue practicing.

Below is a picture of Me, Bennett, Joao and his Mother.  It was very fun speaking Portuguese with her.  She could speak one word of English.  "Hello".  The sweetest woman imaginable.

Breakout players to watch

This is long overdue, but here is my list of young breakout players to watch: 

Miralem Pjanic - Bosnia & Hersegovina - CM #8
Joel Cambell - Costa Rica - Winger. #9. Arsenal player!
Paul Pogba - France - CM #19
Romelu Lukaku - Belgium - CF #9
Nabil Bentaleb - Algeria - Forward/ACM #14
Matteo Kovacic - Croatia - CM. #20
Adnan Januzaj - Belgium - Right Mid. #20
James Rodriguez - Columbia - Winger #10
Xherdan Shaqiri - Switzerland - Winger #23

Day 1: Complete

Where to start...

It's 7:00 am and I've come downstairs to the area with wifi to post an update.  I woke up at 6 and couldn't get back to sleep.  Once my mind starts going, it just doesn't stop.

Yesterday started slow after 28 hours of travel getting into Brasilia.  Bennett and I took a taxi about 10 miles from our apartment to the FIFA Fan Fest.  They set up loudspeakers, a bunch of TVs and concessions stands for people to come and watch games being played in other cities.  The area was huge, and my very rough and probably far from accurate estimation was about 30,000 people were there for the Brazil/Mexico game.    We got set up 30 minutes before kickoff in a perfect space ~30 yards from the big screen, right in the middle.

Brazil was underwhelming, but still deserved to put a goal in.  Mexico was impressive, but nothing special.  A fair result, in my opinion, although Brazil was more deserving of a victory if I had to choose.  The game was very exciting, especially right in the middle of a crowd of 30,000 Brazil fans.  The last 10-15 minutes, especially got intense with a lot of action both ways and two great saves from Ochoa.  The game was an amazing experience, but nothing compared to what happened next.  After a long day in the sun Bennett and I were both very tired.  We decided we would watch the first half of the next game then cab home.

We were the only Americans there.  Apparently Brazilians like Americans.  People periodically came up to us and asking to take pictures with us.  That turned into a few basic smiles and broken conversations.  Next was wave after wave of people wanting to socialize with us, and before we knew it the game, the post-match performance and the closing of the Fan Fest happened, and we were the last few people to leave the area three hours later.   I had learned very quickly that Spanish is much different than Portuguese, and nobody speaks English.  Communicating is very hard, and although the periodic translator would arrive and help in broken English, we used a lot of hand gestures and very few common Spanish or English words.  I'm sitting here trying to describe in words what I experienced, but nothing will do it justice.  there was so much excitement from everybody, so much love and joy.

To quote the great Ron Burgundy - "Boy... that escalated quickly, I mean that really got out of hand fast"

Time for sleep.  Thinking the night was over, we get back to the apartment and speak with Joao for a couple minutes.  He directs us to a pizza place down the street.  Assuming we would get the pizza to go and head back up to the apartment, we grab menus and sit at the bar, about ready to order.  The chef comes up to us with a look of curiosity and excitement in his eye.  "English?".  I respond.  "Are you from... USA?"  I respond.  "Welcome.  This excite to me".  We thought his english was terrible to start, but the more he spoke, the clearer he became and the more we realized that his vocabulary was very good, especially for not having any schooling.

What transpired over the next two hours was amazing.   Jose, or Ze, spoke with us about everything. He visited Miami, spent time with rednecks, dreams of opening a Pizza joint in the US, hates FIFA and how corrupt they are, and thinks baseball is boring.  We got along great.   I hope to see him again before we go to Sao Paulo.

That's all for now.  More pictures to come soon.  

First Post

The first of an unknown amount of  blog posts from the trip of a lifetime!

Throughout the next 19 days, from June 15th to July 4th, I'll be traveling to and around Brazil to experience the country and the World Cup.  I'll post when I can, and when there's something pertinent to post.  Hoping to drive this thing with pictures.
Thanks for reading/looking!