Brazilians Celebrate The World Cup With Their Cars

by Marcelo de Vasconcellos

Published: July 11th, 2010

Now that the World Cup is reaching its end, and Brazil has been eliminated, traffic is getting back to normal. Not to mention safer because authorities usually turn a blind and sympathetic eye to some traffic violations perpetrated in the name of the sport. Can’t stop the celebrations! Anyway, during this month-long event whenever you went out driving you’d see people draping their cars in the flag, putting little flags on the doors and other “decorations”. It’s rather interesting to see import driving Brazilians being so nationalistic. Funny thing was, as soon as Brazil was eliminated, the flags disappeared. This I guess is the norm for talking badly about our country, among ourselves and to foreigners, too (though to a lesser extent) is a national pastime. Do Brazilians only love their country in victory? Are we only patriotic in World Cup times?

The video is courtesy of Brazilian car rag Auto Esporte’s website.

#Brazil #MarceloDeVasconcellos #Soccer

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12 of 15 comments

Threeer on Jul 11, 2010

Come to the States...the absolute second the USA was eliminated from the WC, the TVs here went silent. Too bad, as there have been some very entertaining games... With a nod towards Charlie Brown...wait till 2014!

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Cammy Corrigan on Jul 11, 2010

Marcelo, it's not just Brazil, the UK is equally guilty of this. Everytime a major sporting event comes along (i.e Football world cup, Rugby world cup, Football European Cup, etc) out come the Union flags on people's cars, houses, faces, etc. Then, when we get inevitably knocked out (except 2002 when we won the Rugby world cup and 1966 when we won the Football world cup) everyone takes their flags down and life goes on. The irony is, as I've pointed out to many people, if you REALLY want to be patriotic and do something which will help the UK, then why don't you buy goods manufactured in the UK? Why not help out the UK economy? But, the one thing more sacred than the Union flag (which, let's be honest, was probably made in China!) is the British public's thirst of cheap goods. And so the deterioration of the UK manufacturing base continues...... I'm depressed now....(a bit like the UK economy! Bah-dump, tish!)

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- Marcelo de Vasconcellos on Jul 11, 2010
  
  it's sad isn't it? I try not to think too much about ot so that I don't get depressed...
  
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Reclusive_in_nature on Jul 11, 2010

Isn't it nice of us Americans to let the rest of the world have a sport of their own that we don't stomp them at? Granted, 'commie ball' is one of the most boring and lame sports known to man, but at least it's something. Do soccer fans watch in hopes of seeing a riot the same way NASCAR fans watch in hopes of seeing a crash? Let the snarky, self righteous replies begin!

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- Marcelo de Vasconcellos on Jul 11, 2010
  
  Hey! I think it's crazy how a sport lkike soccer can be labelled "Commie Ball". What's the basis for this? Anyway, the US is improving. Fast., They'll be contenders in a decade or two.
  
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- Arete on Jul 12, 2010
  
  Soccer is actually one of the most capitalistic sports in the world. Unlike the American leagues, which are very far from "free market" (salary caps, collective bargaining between owners as a group and players, player drafts), soccer is in a dog eat dog world, where if you have the money you can spend it and where if you find the player you can sign him without having to go through a league-wide draft benefiting the weakest teams, and where the contract is a matter between the individual player and the individual team. As far as the ridiculous "stomping" comment, about the only two international team sports where the US dominates are basketball and baseball. American football is distincly regional, in hockey the US is one of many strong nations, and there are plenty of sports where the US has little to no presence (soccer, rugby, cricket, volleyball, handball)
  
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- Marjanmm on Jul 12, 2010
  
  "commie ball", boring, lame?? Why can't you keep such comments to yourself when you don't understand first thing about the game? I did watch a couple of games of the American parody of rugby but do you see me sharing my opinion here that the sport is artificialy made to last three hours so to encourage spontaneous hod dog eating competitions amongst the crowd in order to at least match the fatness of the sportsmen trying to impersonate a solid wall as their ultimate skill mastering goal?
  
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- Akitadog on Jul 12, 2010
  
  "Let the snarky, self righteous replies begin!" You mean, to the snarky, self-righteous post?
  
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- PartsUnknown on Jul 12, 2010
  
  @marjanmm, I'm not defending reclusive_in_nature's comment; it appeals to the lowest common denominator, as do most of his posts. But...your description of American football displays your ignorance of that sport just as equally as r_i_n's comment shows his ignorance of soccer. And tossing in a ridiculous stereotype about Americans further cements your hypocrisy. Posting with a little self-awareness...try it sometime.
  
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- Marjanmm on Jul 13, 2010
  
  @PartsUnknown All you say is true, I was just trying to show to a bully how easy it is to slander when you have no scruple whatsoever. That's why I started with the "I did watch a couple of games" to show I am really as ignorant as he is of football.
  
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Jacksonbart on Jul 11, 2010

I am guessing you have never been or in my case stuck in traffic due to a Puerto Rican Day Parade.

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- Marcelo de Vasconcellos on Jul 13, 2010
  
  No, though I did see the Seinfeld episode on it. Seems like hell. As to Jerry Seinfeld and Saab, was that just "innocent", or did he get something out of it. I think I've read or seen somwhere he's a big car fan and has many, many cars in his garage.
  
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