England v Costa Rica
Estadio Mineirão
Belo Horizonte, Brazil
24 June 2014
It was with heavy hearts that we made the 1 Hour 15 minutes flight from Sao Paulo to Belo Horizonte's Confins international airport. England didn't have a cat in hell's chance of getting out the group and to rub salt in the wounds our TAM flight was delayed which just added to the misery, but the show goes on!
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 we would be playing in those games
There weren't many heroes in the defeat to Uruguay game but at least Wayne Rooney broke his WC duck and scored. Anyway the Free Lions team had to put someone on the cover
Costa Rica 0 England 0
Attendance: 57823
Roy Hodgson fielded new faces but they failed to shine and the game petered out to a 0:0 draw against the group winners Costa Rica, who went through to the KO phase with Uruguay
Belo Horizonte is in the south eastern state of Brazil's Minas Gerais state. It is the sixth largest city in Brazil with a huge metropolitan area (3rd largest)
In June 2010 the iconic Mineirão was given a facelift for the 2014 WC. Due to its historical and architectural importance the concrete shell and roof of the stadium were preserved which meant that only minor changes were made to the structure and the roof was extended closer to the playing surface. The stadium hosted 6 games at WC 2014 including Brazil's 7:1 humbling in the Semi Final against Germany:
FIFA WC 2014
Group C, Colombia v Greece (3-0)
Group H, Belgium v Algeria (2-1)
Group F, Argentina v Iran (1-0)
Group D, Costa Rica v England (0-0)
Rd of 16, Brazil v Chile (1-1) (3-2 pens)
Semi Final, Brazil v Germany (1-7)
Estadio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte
Day 1 and the arrival at our over priced Hotel, 'Sol Belo Horizonte' in the Centro district of BH. Quite possibly the highest rate we have paid to date for accommodation
Belo Horizonte's Cultural Centre which
is crammed with art and other culture.
The Municipal Park is just down the hill from our hotel and it's a Sunday, which means that the Hippy Market is on and the place is heaving with people. Here everyone is watching the Brazilian jujitsu dancers. This is known as Capoeira and the two dancers are Capoeiras who dance in a 'Roda' (or circle) to the rhythm of the beat.
Satay on a stick
Unbelievable Jeff!
The Othon Palace peeking through the trees
Boating lake
Street vendors in the 'Praca Da Liberoade'
We venture up to Savassi and it is not long before
I take in the football with a can of cold Brahma.
We meet up with Andrew and head off to meet the boys at Big Mac's bar. Tinker, Robbie and Johnny
Savassi Square - all quiet in the morning.
Colonial buildings in the Funcionarios district
Viva Brasil Bar
Bottegas
Day 2 - We visited Pampulha lake to see the Sao Francisco de Assis Church which is an important building in Brazil, designed by the famous Brazilian architect, Oscar Niemeyer
The front
Pampulha Lake - in the distance Mineirão (Football stadium) and Mineirão (Olimpic Stadium) on the right.
Another view of Oscar Niemeyer's creation,
Cooling down with a coconut
On the way back we encounter more
of the huge rodents, the Capybara.
Family of Capybara
Having a beer outside the Mercado Central
The Mercado Central
Day 3 and its Match day with Craig Mac and his flag at the entrance to the Mineirão
Inside the cordon the atmosphere is booming
Brahma everywhere
Spot the new denim Brazil shorts
Cracking view from our Cat 3 seats
Going out but still smiling
X 2
The England support was really good today despite the exit
England loyal staying to cheer the players off the field
The game finishes in an uninspiring 0:0 draw sealing England's fate at the bottom of Group D
Goodbye England...
see you in Russia
The view outside is stunning
View from the outer stadium perimeter to Pampulha Park
One of the Volunteers
"Olé, Olé, Olé, Olé, Ticos,Ticos"
Big Steve at the Mineirao
More supporters of Los Ticos
Day 4 is spent sweeping up some sites that we missed. The 'Viaduto Santa Tereza' was built in 1929 and links the districts of Santa Tereza and Floresta with the Centro district. It is an iconic landmark in the city. No idea why?
View from the bridge
We head off to a shopping mall east of the city to collect our tickets for our remaining games in Brazil (USA v Germany and Costa Rica v Greece, both in Recife). Everything was like clockwork and tickets were secured
On our return to the city we head to the Mercado central and do a little bit of last minute shopping
Praca Raul Soares, just outside the Mercado Central
Praca Raul Soares
Lunch in the market!
Beer in the Market
Restaurant dedicated to BH's 3rd club, Clube Americano. After it's back to the hotel to catch our late night flight to Recife
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