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THE ROMANCE OF THE COPA BRASIL
By Tim Cowman
Since arriving in Brazil it has struck me as to how little we Brits generally know about the make up of the domestic game here, which now seems a crime baring in mind this nation's global dominance. It has taken me few months to get to grips with the complexities of the seasonal set up here. This vast country and its many fans are fed on a never ending and inter-twisted diet of various competitions.
For most people Brazil means Sao Paulo, Rio, Favelas and the Amazon but my home is Teresina, a city in the North East of the country. The state, Piaui, is dominated by a desert based ecosystem (sertao) that produces temperatures touching forty degrees for long parts of the year with the coolness of the nearest beach nearly six hours away. The heat is not the only oppressive element to life in Teresina though, as with much of this region it is a forgotten part of Brazil and suffers from massive problems relating to poverty, a poor education system, underemployment and a lack of essential services. The heat coupled with the hard fight for survival prompts the majority of the almost one million inhabitants to lovingly refer to Teresina as “the arsehole of the World”.
When I arrived in this country I was expecting lavish creative football skills and a social life to match. In Teresina the latter has been an ever present but the city has produced about as much football talent as that found in the Dorset countryside. Don’t get me wrong the players here are blessed with “ginga” but the infrastructure just isn’t in place.
This was proven to me early on in my days here as during a drunken night out at a street bar I was invited to the local derby by Garrincha, the top radio personality in the state. The game took place in what can be politely described as a “decent standard” league 2 stadium with a crowd to match. We made our way to the press box where I was introduced to everyone and everybody. With my limited Portuguese I was busy meeting people, shaking hands and nodding blindly with a foolish grin on my face, blissfully unaware that I was being presented as a scout from an English football club. This gross misunderstanding escalated throughout the game and after the final whistle I was hurried out onto the pitch where I found myself in front of the TV cameras conducting a post match interview for local television.
Finally last week the big time hit Teresina when the Copa do Brazil (Brazilian cup) came to town. Brazil’s FA cup which sets the big against the small, in this case Piaui (the state champions) and Gremio winners on four previous occasions.
The gates of the cities colossal concrete stadium were opened for what is only one of a handful of occasions in each season. The arena was built in the 70`s as a vote gaining exercise by the military regime and seats about 70,000. It is a construction with a sad history as on its opening day 50 people lost their lives. With the stadium packed just before kick-off a plane flew over and as the noise reverberated around the ground many fans rushed to the exits fearing a collapse. The years and lack of investment have made a disaster appear much more likely and I have to admit my heart was slightly in my mouth when the pre-match fireworks sent amplified explosions echoing across the pitch.
A decent sized crowd had turned out for the tie, though were dwarfed by the overpowering concrete structure. The lack of fans could be explained by the fact that Gremio can be found in the state of Rio Grande do Sul a seven hour flight south of Teresina. That’s some away trip for a domestic competition and Brazil is definitely not a place for Dennis Bergkamp to play his football. Premiership sides in the UK still don’t fancy traveling to lower league grounds for fear of a giant killing but imagine having to cover over 4000 km to play against a side never previously registered with the CBF(Brazilian FA) in a city famed as the hottest in Brazil. Due to the distances involved an innovative approach has been introduced to the competition with the bigger team always having to play away first and if they win by two clear goals then a replay is not required. So Gremio had a large incentive to get the job done and Piaui, if they kept it respectable, could earn themselves a big day out.
Whatever rules were in place the local side looked up against from the moment the draw was made but matters were made ten times worse when five players withdrew the day before the start of the match due to a disagreement over finances. There was a rumor racing through the terraces that the subs bench was made up entirely of local lads picked up off the streets. In the week following the game this was reveled to be true as it turns out on the morning of the game local trials were held across the city and the lucky players selected.
Whatever selection history the side had from the offset they looked the better side, attacking with flair on the break and defending well in numbers. The goalkeeper, kitted out in what looked like a set of pyjamas, was the only exception to this rule as he set about aiding the opposition. His antics in the box were more beach volleyball than football and fueled speculation that the Piaui management didn’t want to win due to lack of funds for the second leg plane tickets. When we went one nil down to a scrappy goal against the run of play a sigh of inevitability went around the ground from the one night only crowd.
Due to the lack of depth on the bench a key point was always going to be the ability of the physio and it was bizarrely him who bought the crowd back to life. At the faintest sign of injury he would race from the dugout faster than any player on show. With his bag of tricks in hand his leg speed was something that has never been seen previously outside of the road runner cartoon. One particular highlight was when there was a player down at either end to which he responded by covering the enter length of the pitch in a time that would give Thierry Henry a run for his money. This was all done to the back drop of cheers and hoots of laughter from the entire crowd.
Unfortunately his magic didn’t rub off on the players and though playing some neat football the local side slipped to 2-nil down. Gremio securing their lucky second goal from a corner with the goalkeeper flapping at what must have been a swarm of bees as the ball entered the net. When a dubious penalty was awarded to the away team it looked as if the game was heading ominously towards a heavy defeat. With the goaly’s previous efforts to go on no one in the ground was holding their breath, but the clown came good with a sterling save low to his right. The turning point had come as minutes later Piaui scored the goal of the match, sweeping down the right with a sweet one touch passing move, finished with a wicked cross which was banged in first time with a crisp side footed volley. With a 2-1 result in the bag Piaui had earned the return leg they richly deserved with all costs covered by the CBF.
Two weeks after the game I found myself eagerly checking out the result of the second leg on the web (I couldn’t quite justify the 14hr return trip to the Mrs). For the record Piaui lost 4-0 but there’s no disgrace in that as they really had nothing to lose. The manager had gone on record to say he would be using the same set of players and I hope they enjoyed their day in the south and for many their first flight. I am sure if you got a chance to talk to the side they would confirm that in this part of the world there is definitely some romance left in the cup, especially if you’re from "the arsehole of the world".
Tim Cowman lives in Brazil and is moving to Sao Paulo pre-world cup. He enjoys watching and writing about football and welcomes any emails. He can be reached at: timcowman@hotmail.com
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