Day 42 (penultimate) Copacabana 3rd/4th play off

Camilla and her family were really kind to me today. They let me do a clothes wash and helped me get my reading glasses fixed. Camilla took me on a local tour where we found an optician that fixed my wobbly (and getting wobblier by the hour) reading glasses for free. She showed me where the football is often shown in a street party zone around here before we went back to discuss things with their family.

View from my bedroom window

Local Football Fest

Restaurant at the end of my street

Then I went for an explore around the Maracana - ten minutes walk away. It was cool walking around the stadium mingling with the Argies (and one or two Germans) as if I was going to the match before getting the metro down to the southern end by Ipanema beach followed by a long stroll along Copacabana before settling down in the sand with a big caipirinha in my hand to watch Brazil get stuffed again, this time 0-3 to Holland.

Maracana - all set up for the Final 

Tomorrow this will all be out of bounds unless you have a ticket

Ipanema

Big Wave

Tiled Pathways

Ipanema

Spectacular setting - even in mid winter

Copacabana - stretching ahead of me

Destination - right at the other end, FIFA fanfest

Sand sculptures

Vamos, vamos, Argentina!

FIFA Fan fest filling fast

Lovers. The first (and only) gay couple spotted were Aussies!

All set for the Brasil v Holland

The first was a penalty. Although Robben went over as he is well trained to do, and the actual foul was probably outside the box, Silva could have been shown a red card, so a penalty and a yellow was probably fair. The second was another defensive cock up from "sideshow Bob". The first thing every schoolboy is taught when defending is to head the ball out for a corner when in doubt, but David Luiz contrived instead to head the ball straight back to the Dutchman in a way reminiscent of the Germany game. Brasil offered little in response and Holland added a third, well worked, goal in the 2nd half to complete their miserable anti-climax to the world cup.

After that I met up with Craig from Perth outside a hotel on Copacabana and we caught the metro to Lapa where Simon had told me he was doing a gig. We had a pizza and a few bevvies as I got a text telling me the venue had changed. My mobile phone was dying s we decided to stay and have a few more.

The Final is tomorrow and the next day my Brasil 2014 experience will finally end.

Algirdo
Maracana