Going to the Footy

Going to a football (well, soccer) match in Brazil was something pretty high on my TBD list, together with getting a tan and dancing the samba. It wasn't exactly footy season when I was there, but Flamengo was playing Sao Paulo at Maracana stadium on the Saturday and I thought that could very well be a sign from the gods.
As I soon found out, the game was all about size really. Flamengo is (so I am told) the most popular sports club in the world, with over 25 million supporters. That is TWO-FIVE-ZERO-ZERO-ZERO-ZERO-ZERO-ZERO. Maracana on the other hand was for many many years the biggest stadium in the world, and still holds the world record for most people in a single game (210,000. That is roughly three times Sydney Olympic Stadium). I hope that sorta puts things in perspective.
It took some arm twisting, but I managed to get Felipe to come with me. I had a gut feeling I would need a local. So about three hours before the siren, we started heading towards the stadium, after Felipe checked I don't wear anything of the "wrong" colour.
I can't lie. The game was pretty average. I mean soccer can be boody unexciting when it is unexciting, and this particular game was a bit slow even for soccer. Not to mention the fact that "we" lost.
What was worth the whole thing was the atmosphere. The only thing I can try to compare it to is the AFL Grand Final, during the very last minutes of a very close game. Now take that, multiply it by a hundred, add drums and firecrackers, start it about an hour before the game starts and don't stop until you get home.
How naive I was to even try to look for my seat. They don't really do seats at Maracana. They all go to where viewing is best and decide this is where their seats are.
I need to figure out a way to upload a short video I took, in the meantime enjoy the pics.
Oh, and here's something for the shock-and-horror list. They don't sell beer in Maracana. Or any sort of booze for that matter. Outrageous.