England v Italy
Arena da Amazonia
Manaus, Brazil
14 June 2014
After a 6 month wait following the draw, the world cup was now upon us and England had secured a mouth watering group stage fixture list. First up are Italy in a match that will be played on the banks of the river Negro in the city of Manaus
We had managed to secure all of England's Group Stage tickets at Cat 3. The only downside was that I had not applied for conditional tickets for the KO stages (in hindsight this was to be a good thing) but at the time in meant that we had organised our trip to to the KO phase (Rd 16) without knowing who would be playing in those games
It is a tradition of the Free Lions that the opening game of each tournament features the Team Captain on the front cover, this time it is Steven Gerrard
When Manaus was selected as a host city in 2009 a complete refurbishment of the old Estadio Vivldao Lima began. The stadium is located in the Flores neighbourhood
Five years later it was transformed into the 39000 all seater Arena de Amazonia and made it's WC debut with the Group stage encounter between England and Italy
Arena Amazonia - designed to resemble a typical Amazonian basket with diagonal patterns. It was to host 4 games at the FIFA WC 2014 but did not feature in the KO phase, although later it hosted Brazil in the WC Qualifiers for Russia and Qatar
FIFA WC 2014
Group D, England v Italy (1-2)
Group A, Cameroon v Croatia (0-4)
Group G, USA v Portugal (2-2)
Group E, Honduras v Switzerland (0-3)
FIFA WC 2018 Qualifier
Brazil v Colombia (2-1)
FIFA WC 2022 Qualifier
Brazil v Uruguay (4-1)
England 1 Italy 2
Attendance: 39800
Day 1 - We travelled out to Brazil on a TAM flight from London Heathrow to Sao Paulo and then changed for Manaus. After booking in at the aptly named 'Quality Hotel' we bumped into Gary Oswald and his lad (Sunderland)
After a quick shower and a taxi down to the main square in downtown Manaus we are just in time for the opening match between Brazil v Croatia in Sao Paulo.
The Fan Zone is just in front of the cathedral
Brazilian girls partying
Day 1 went to plan - mission accomplished
Day 2- We check out the Opera House, Mercado Central and docks. This is the Monument to the Opening of the Ports to Friendly Nations located at Praça São Sebastião in front of the Teatro Amazonas. It was commissioned in 1900 to celebrate the opening of the Amazon River ports to trade in 1866.
São Sebastião Church as seen from the balcony of the Teatro Amazonas. It isn't the oldest church in Manaus, located just across the plaza from the opera house.
The England Band trying to promote their new single
Brazilian Bottega's are the way forward
Palacate Provincial was originally the Police HQ, but is now a cultural centre with a number of small museums and exhibits held within its walls.
Enroute to the port we pass some interesting streets
Crossing the road is always a challenge in Brazil!
The Manaus Cathedral is in a poor part of town and allegedly populated by thieves and pickpockets according to our guidebook. Oddly enough we felt totally at ease.
Floating docks on the Rio Negro.
The Mercado Municipal Adolfo Lisboa is a cast iron structure that was built in 1902. It is a stone's throw from the docks and is where I purchased my 'Manaus Beer mug'.
Raising the flag of Amazonia inside the Palacio Rio Negro.
The Palacio Rio Negro is a colonial mansion house that was built during the rubber boom in 1913 and was home to the German rubber Baron, Waldermar Scholz.
On return to our hotel the Italian national team had pitched up bringing their own chefs, who for the first meal had sculptured Mario Balotelli out of a water melon. Genius!
Sue and Monique at the 'Fan Fest'
Day 3 - It's matchday and we swap hotels for the luxuriously expensive Hotel Tropical.
The sandy beaches of the Ponta Negra.
Beach footy
Pre match meal of grilled Tambaka at Eldorado district
The 'Ser Tambaka Grill', despite only having one dish on the menu it was one of the best restaurants that we ate in throughout the whole world cup.
Praca do Eldorado. Let the Fiesta begin.
Meet up with the boys - Left to Right: West Ham Glenn (RiP), John McGrath, Conner, me and Sir Tommy Truman.
West Ham Glenn
Ticket shot
John and Glenn doing Anglo Brazilian
relations a power of good.
Sue, Glenn, Connor and Deano
Johnny Mac and Sue with the Brazilian SWAT team
Hugs with the Games Makers'
Sue with the Brazilian chief of police.
Me, Neil and Conner
Sue and Bernie Winters.
England v Italy, Arena da Amazonia, Manaus
Flag spotting
That flag😖
The first of many Brahmas in Brazilian stadiums
In the end we lost to a 50th minute header from Balotelli after Sturridge had scored a cracking breakaway goal to equalise on 37 mins. Italy's first goal was scored by Marchisio on 35
Post Match Fiesta in full swing
Day 4 and the River boats are preparing to leave the jetty at the Hotel Tropical for the jungle.
Transferring to a smaller river boat
for onward journey to the jungle lodge.
Jungle Jim
3 nights in the Ariau Towers, deep in the Primary Forest.
Room in the Tower
Jungle Jane.
First excursion is Piranha Fishing.
Up close and personal with a 3 toed Sloth
Grilling the catch
Hearts and Minds campaign
Rustling the troops up for a game of rubber ball footy
Sue's game on
The Cat in action
Climbing the Rubber Tree
Hearts and Minds campaign
Rustling the troops up for a game of rubber ball footy
Sue's game on
The Cat in action
Climbing the Rubber Tree
Now that is how to make a Caipirinha
Russians have taken over the bar
Jungle sunrise
Jungle Jane out on the river
Our guide Jao.
Pesky monkeys
Swimming with the Pink Dolphins
Day 7 and we cross the Bridge over the Rio Negro back to Manaus to catch a morning flight to Sao Paulo
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