The Last Crusade: Brazil V England, Rio

Brazil v England
Friendly International
Estádio do Maracanã,
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2nd June 2013

Tickets for the long awaited opening of the new Maracana were difficult to come by for the locals, as the stadium had a reduced capacity for it's first proper international fixture since it's recent FIFA WC 2014 face lift. The 1000 or so travelling English fans had to locate a collection point in the back streets of Ipanema beach. The good news was that it was a pub and therefore sold alcohol, the bad news was that it was so small that only the early birds were able to bask in the so called fan hub at Devassas.

Brazil 2 England 2

England have played Brazil 24 times but have only registered 4 wins to Brazil's 11. Although we did beat them once before at the Maracana in 1984 when John Barnes scored a brilliant solo goal and Mark Hateley got the second in a rare 2:0 Brazilian home defeat

The Maracana being re-built for the WC in 2014

We picked our tickets up on the Saturday night following a great day out on Corcovado visiting the impressive 'Christ the Redeemer' statue. Following ticket pick up we met up with Tommy and Robbo at the Mexican restaurant opposite the fan's hub and ended up finding a bar on the corner of the street, where I bumped into an Army mate (Bish) who I didn't even know followed England - small world!

Man Utd's Phil Jones in action against the Dutch

Day 1 and it is Sue's birthday, Happy Birthday Sue. The first day was spent orientating ourselves around our immediate surroundings at the headland where Ipanema and Copacabana meet. Once this was done, we jumped on a number 418 bus and headed off to Centro to see some culture.

The view from our roof top terrace at the Hotel Atlantis Copacabana was breathtaking.....even on a cloudy day!

One of the Rio favellas in the distance

Centro is a busy district where colonial Rio meets the sky scrapers of Rio. Street kids showing off their skate boarding skills under a flyover near the Palace.

A typical street in the Centro district

Monumento a Deodoro da Fonseca (first president of Brazil)

The 'Confeitaria Colombo' is Rio's most famous

pastry and coffee shop

Sky scrapers in the Centro district

Although overcast, it was hot and humid which caused us to seek out a good bar. This is the Amarelinho Bar opposite the Theatro Municpial on the popular Praca Floriano.

One or two Bramas should do the trick

All good in Rio

On returning to Copacabana we visited the Fort, managing to crack it just before last light. It was an interesting first night with multiple taxi rides, unfashionable street bars and copious amounts of alcohol! We staggered back to the Hotel Atlantis Copacabana and crashed!

Day 2 is dedicated to visiting Christ the Redeemer, one of the true wonders of the world. On Jun 1 we woke to brilliant sunshine so after an early breakfast we took the bus to Cosme Velho hoping to take the train to the top of Corcovoda. However, our plans needed tweaking as the train was fully booked up, so our only option was to take a mini cab (or three) to the summit. This was going to be a long day - See above a small section of the 1st mini cab queue.

As we ascend the views of Rio and the Rodrigo de Frietas Lagoon are superb, the Hipodromo da Gavea is to the right

The view out to Sugarloaf Mountain at the mouth of the Guanabra Bay

After 3 hours of queuing I was able to pose with the Redeemer at the first view point. It was going to be a long day on the hill.

Our 'queue buddy', the lovely Karin from Chile
making a heart for the Redeemer.

Nearly there

This remains one of my favourite photos

After 5 hours of queuing we finally made it. So proud of Sue for insisting we grizzed it out, worth every minute.

Christ the Redeemer in all of his glory,
what a fantastic day.

The train that we never got😒

We finish off watching the sun go down with our Chilean friends at Ponta do Arpoador, the point where Ipanema and Copacabana beaches meet and the best spot for surfing!

Again we spent the evening running around Rio with Tommy. This time trying to locate Paul and Tyrone,

Day 3 was Matchday in Rio. The plan was to sober up before the game by walking the length of Ipanema and having a swim, what could possibly go wrong!

Artists at work on Ipanema Beach

We've seen this guy before somewhere!

The perfect hangover cure.

Smashing dips on Ipanema beach.

Beach sport

Chi, Chi, Chi, Li, Li, Li - Karin & Nicki, the chicks from Chile

Beach volleyball on Ipanema

Ipanema Suzie😎

Checking out the street art on the public beach. Following our much deserved frolicking on the beach we hastily made our way back to the hotel to wash the sand off and get ready for the match. I hadn't worked out how to get to the ground at this stage, so I decided (to our detriment) that we would get a bus. Now catching a bus on a Sunday isn't as simple as getting one on the week days as the back streets of the Copacabana were teaming with Favela kids. Sue and I were trying to act as if we were 100% sure we were at the correct bus stop, but we still attracted about 10 kids who were trying to snatch items from our pockets!! The bus came and some of them managed to jump on with us (2 through the front, 3 through the back doors and one through the window. The conductor seemed powerless and couldn't leave his seat through fear of his till getting robbed and there was no police in sight. Luckily for us, the driver pulled up at a bus stop where some of his colleagues were congregating. This prompted the street urchins to scarper.The remainder of the journey was uneventful and we arrived at the Maracana with thousands of Brazilians in full Samba mode. One thing was for sure, we were getting the metro back!

The bus journey to the Maracana takes us to Zona Norte

Brazil 2 England 2

Attendance: 66015

On the path to the Maracana (what a great feeling).

Bars were not so plentiful in the poorer Zone Norte, but this one proved fairly popular

OK lets find the away end

Outside the main stand

Freestylers

English End (far right) belting out the National anthem

Once we managed to get into the stadium it was indeed an impressive sight. The roof is made of some kind of plastic which provides adequate cover for most of the stadium and it also has an eco drainage system which recycles rain water directly to the hundreds of toilets in the stadium. The views from our vantage point in this single tiered stadium were unhindered and 4 gigantic screens on each side of the ground make sure you don't miss a thing.

View from the EF end

View towards the Main Stand

The noise levels were increased due to the inflatable maracas that the Brazilian fans were repeatedly clapping together, but not to be completely out done, the 1000 Englishmen and women sang the national anthem with passion so creating a vibrant atmosphere - all done without the band, who couldn't get their brass through security!

Brazilian crisps are not quite the same as good old Walkers.

England start well

England's Top Boy and official male model sporting the 150th anniversary 2013/15 away shirt

A hard earned draw 2-2 draw and the players come to acknowledge the 1000 England fans

It felt great to be applauded by the players inside the Maracanã one of the truly iconic stadiums

The Brazilians went into a deserved lead following a neat strike by Fred in the 57th minute, but goals by Wayne Rooney and Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain put England into the lead following a much improved 2nd Half display. Despite conceding a late equalizer in the 82nd minute, the 3 Lions managed to hold on to a 2-2 draw. Jo Hart was my man of the match after pulling off 5 or 6 world class saves in the 1st half alone when England were totally out played.

The Brazilian fans exiting the Maracanã

Queue for the metro

Our final day (day 4) in Rio was spent exploring the village of Urca, Sugar Loaf mountain and Botafogo. Firstly, we decided to catch the bus to Urca and have a walk around the village to take in the sights. Urca is a picturesque coastal village in the shadow of Sugar Loaf Mountain. This house is where the famous singer Carmem Miranda was raised.