Penta Campeão

5 Time winners of the Copa do Mundo -- brasil knows it's futbol. Cariocas (residents of rio) really know how to party.

Through a bizarre "small world" chain (i worked with a french guy in singapore who met a brasilian in another s. american country who gave me the number for some of his friends), i met up with some cariocas and watched the game at their place. the game was 8:30am sunday morning -- by the time the game finished the whole country was partying and it didn't stop for days. being of german descent i guess is evident in my face and many people would ask me if i was german. to this i replied "alemans no esta con nada" (basically translated, Germany Sucks!) here follows the colors, the hype and all that is Penta Campeão.

watching the game was intense. you could sense the whole country was riding on those few players with fast feet. when Renaldo scored mid way into the second half a huge collective sigh of relief passed through the country. the parties started and people relaxed a bit. still weary of the germans, but confident in their team all eyes were still glued to TVs across the nation. when Renaldo scored his second goal of the game people lost their minds. they, and probably the rest of the world, knew no team could come back to beat brasil sitting on a 2 point advantage.

Canon's started firing in the hills, the air around the city was thick with firecracker smoke and at times you could barely hear the remaining portion of the game due to all the noise. people in the streets tied together the ends of black trash bags, knowing that the sun's warm rays would carry them up up and away like miniature hot air balloons -- a small floating tribute to their heroes.

by the time i got back to copacabana on the other side of town the party was in full swing. i was tired and didn't feel like meandering through the streets now filled with a jubilant population whose fanaticism with futbol ranks it above religion in importance. i decided it would be a travesty to miss the excitement so camera in hand, i wandered out into the partying masses.

immediately people assumed i was press covering the celebration. people posed, invited me up the various party vans pumping out tunes on the street and watched me curiously as i made my way, shooting one group then another. they asked which magazine i worked for and where when would the pictures be in a newspaper.

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persistence pays off
copacabana beach

just hours after winning their 5th world cup championship, these revelers pushed and pushed me to take their picture. after umpteen tries to assemble their whole gang, they finally assembled enough to persuade me. the van in the background was one of many lined with huge speakers pumping out samba, or other danceable tunes. i was invited up to photograph the people dancing on top, and in the crowd.

get down: penta jubilation
copacapana beach

voodoo wall
lapa

at one end: a depiction of the team. at the other: a bizarre depiction of psuedo-voodooistic rituals involving chickens, half naked brasilian women, and the german team. i guess the chicken was part of the ritual, and the women symbolized the german's well renowned appetite for sex holidays.

get up: penta decoration
lapa

crisscross
lapa

coble stone streets accentuate the brick and stone construction of these buildings as the festive colored ceiling plays over head.

watch from here
rio

this is the balcony of the place i watched the game. from here one could see canon smoke billowing from the hillsides every time brasil scored.

magic happy bus
santa teresa

the brasilian team depicted on the santa teresa tram bound for the far east.