Sunday, July 16, 1950: The Maracana played host to one of the darkest days in Brazilian football history.  It was on this day, arch-rivals Uruguay, shocked the world with a 2-1 victory over Brazil in the World Cup final to leave Rio with the most coveted prize in world sport.

64 years on and it was potentially another horror night on the horizon for the host nation as this time, it was arch-rivals Argentina with the chance to lift the World Cup in Brazil's backyard.

Humbled 7-1 at the hands of a merciless German outift in the semi final, Brazil's world cup dream was destroyed and with it, all hopes of a Brazil-Argentina final.

Adding salt to the wound was a Sergio Romero-inspired, Argentina side who held their nerve to book their spot in football's showpiece, with a nervy penalty shootout victory over the Netherlands.

Cue the Argentine invasion.

As Brazilian fans went into hiding after their humiliation and the cup fever waned, an influx of Argentine fans descended upon Rio.

A Brazilian song that referred to Pele's superiority over Maradona proclaimed that "Only Pele can score 1000 goals in his career, Maradona is just a drug addict," disappeared and it was instead the Argentines rubbing it in.

One of their songs which begins with
"Brasil, decime qué se siente...
tener en casa a tu papa," translates to English roughly as, "Brazil, tell us how it feels, for us to come to your house and be the daddy."  

This song was everywhere, the more notable places I heard it were up at the Christ the Redeemer monument that overlooks Rio, in a pizza restaurant at 4am, and all along the sandy football fields of Copacabana beach.

A little bit of Brazilian spirit returned to the fore for the 3rd-place playoff against the Netherlands. That was all in vain however as the Oranje hammered the hosts three goals to nil, adding to Brazilian woes and acting as a catalyst for further Argentine ridicule.  

Pre match:
At the Fifa Fan Fest on Copacabana Beach, it was a sea of blue and white that overtook the beach as well as the surrounding streets.  Trumpets, horns, whistles, singing, and flags waving... One could easily have mistaken Rio for the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires.  

 

The Brazilian fans were nowhere to be seen as they faced the prospect of having their 'noisy' neighbours potentially lifting the trophy in their own backyard.  Could Argentina inflict the same pain the Uruguayans did 64 years prior?

The match:
Amongst the hundreds of thousands of Argentina supporters that swarmed Copacabana, were tiny pockets of German fans, who weren't making any efforts to draw attention to themselves as they were severely outnumbered.

 

At 4pm when the match kicked off, the Argentines turned it up a notch with their chanting, drumming and whistling.

We were given a glimpse of what to expect for an Argentine goal celebration when Gonzalo Higuain beat Manuel Neuer.  The fans erupted, jumping up and down as if we were in the moshpit of a music festival.  That goal was correctly ruled out for offside however, so the celebrations were only short-lived.  

The match ended in a nil-all stalemate and into extra time it went.

More end-to-end action throughout the first period of extra time saw chances for both sides that had the whole beach on edge.  

 

Then, Argentine hearts were broken as Germany's golden boy, Mario Gotze, volleyed past Sergio Romero to send Germany on it's way to a fourth world cup triumph.  

A stinging silence swept across the sand.  The Germans in their small numbers quietly celebrated whilst the Argentines toiled in disbelief.  

When the final whistle blew, it was the fat lady singing songs of Germany, and the Brazilian fans found their voice once again as well.

Post match:
Within minutes of the final whistle, fights erupted in the crowd.  Beach chairs being hauled at other supporters, pushing and shoving, as well as punches being thrown between rival supporters.  It was getting ugly as the majority of supporters made a mad dash to escape the growing violence.

 

On the streets it only got worse.  The Brazilians were yelling out to the Argentines from their apartment windows, and singing songs of Pele.

I watched a policeman chase a man in a Lionel Messi jersey up the street with a taser in his hand. I watched an Argentine coward punch a German from behind before he was swarmed and arrested by three police officers.  

 

Fights were breaking out on every corner.  Sirens rung as police cars, bikes and the helicopters in the sky sought to bring the violence under control.

 

My friends and I had a few close run-ins as angry supporters mistook our Socceroos jerseys for Brazil ones... Shirts off immediately.

Brazilian forces were well equipped to deal with the violence as the military teamed up with police to quickly subdue any violence within two-three hours of the final whistle.

Around 11pm that night my friends and I ventured back to the beach for a few late night beers. Argentines playing beach football with the locals, people having dinner in the adjacent restaurants, and tourists pacing the scenic Copacabana footpath that runs along the beach.

That marked my final night in Brazil and now that the World Cup is over, it's off to Buenos Aires. Adios.

 

Peter Prandalos

FSC World Cup Reporter