Brazilian football team hires a hypnotist

Portuguesa is a football team you might not have heard before although it is the fourth biggest side in São Paulo behind Corinthians, São Paulo FC and Plameiras. It recently hit the news however with an unusual addition to the backroom staff.

After a series of lacklustre performances Portuguesa decided to hire a hypnotist. The players now go through routines which include walking on glass and bending iron bars with their necks.

Tesser, the hypnotist claims: “I work with the human being, the man, and this is reflected on the pitch. If a player thinks he can bend iron and walk on glass, he can do anything in the game."
Unfortunately this has not stopped their losing streak, not even getting on the scoresheet in their last game. Who knows by Saturday they will have turned minds to scoring a few goals..

Renato Stockler's aerial photos of football fields in São Paulo

 

Journalist turned photograhper Renato Stockler took these incredible shots of São Paulo's football fields. All are aerial photos of ordinary neighbourhoods in São Paulo with a communal pitch or "terrão".

A far cry from the lavish world cup stadiums with their green grass and media friendly aesthetics, these are the hardened earth pitches on which you have to play if you are from the impoverished peripheral neighbourhoods of São Paulo.

The pitches symbolise the precious little public space set aside for leisure in poorer districts. But, being less desirable neighbourhoods does not necessarily mean there is a lower demand for housing and, as many of Renato's photos show, open areas are being encroached on and menaced by property development and speculation.

In other words, this is a photojournalistic essay of a Brazilian endangered species; local football pitches.

In his own words Renato explains the symbolism:

"The reddish tone of a soccer field turns into a stage for the resistance of popular soccer. Some of them have their own football clubs, while others are publics spots. Some of them are mainly dirt, while others are of sand, rests of weathered grass.

"But they are a breath [of fresh air] for the hard daily lives of those who live on the outskirts of São Paulo. These fields show the urgent need for public and communal places to practice sports, a portrait of those who fight for leisure in a city such as Sao Paulo"

Photos of empty São Paulo streets during world cup games

Have you ever wondered what the world outside is like when the whole city is glued to their TV sets watching the Brazil game?

Amateur photographer Robson Leandro da Silva has the answer. He went for a walk around the city during the Brazil-Mexico game and took these shots of the deserted streets of São Paulo. 

Sé, the main subway station, at 4pm
 

Sé Station at 4pm:

25 de Março Street, downtown, at 4h16 pm:

All photos were taken on an Iphone. For more check out his page on Flickr

VIDEO: São Paulo by Fifa TV

São Paulo as Fifa sees it:

World Cup: Find out which teams will play in São Paulo

A lot of people have asked me which countries will play in São Paulo during the world cup.

Part of this question is easy. As long as the stadium is finally completed and approved by Fifa (and the roof does not collapse again) there will be four scheduled group games in São Paulo, the first of these being the opening game Brazil vs Croatia.

Another eye-catchign one is Uruguay vs England, one of the key clashes in the so-called group of death (Fifa just calls it Group D). 

Then there is Holland vs Chile who, along with Spain, come from the other group of death. 

And finally South Korea vc Belgium which would appear to be the least atttractive game, but given that Belgium has a far stronger team than most people realise and the fact that there is a significant Korean population in São Paulo, this could yet be an interesting fixture.

Full details below:

Sao Paulo Group Games Schedule

Match	Date / Time	Stage
1	12 June / 17:00	Group A	Brazil	Croatia
23	19 June / 16:00	Group D	Uruguay	England
36	23 June / 13:00	Group B	Netherlands	Chile
47	26 June / 17:00	Group H	South Korea	Belgium

The not so easy part is the knock-out stage, or qualifiers, as this will depend on what happens in the group.

On the 1st July, the Itaquerão will host a round 16 clash which will almost certainly be between Argentina and Switzerland/Ecuador (assuming Argentina and France win their respective groups)

On the 9th July we will be treated to a semi final which is harder to predict but is likely to be Argentina (again) against one of the winners of one of the group of deaths, namely England, Italy, Uruguay, Spain, Holland or Chile. 

Details below:

Match

Date / Time

Stage

55	01 July / 13:00	Round 16	1F	2E
62	09 July / 17:00	Semi-finals	W59	W60

The full match schedule for all teams and all cities is available here

São Paulo the most popular choice for World Cup teams

Fifteen of the 32 world cup teams will make São Paulo their base for the tournament, the most of any state in the country. Below is a list of the top states by number of teams choosing to set up camp there:

1. São Paulo - 15
2. Rio de Janeiro - 4
3. Minas Gerais - 3
4. Bahia - 3

Meanwhile hosts Brazil will have their HQ in Teresopolis and reigning champions Spain in Curitiba.

Corinthians football club launches an official funeral service

It's not the first time Corinthians has had a mention on this blog but neither is it every day that a football club launches a funeral service. 

Capitalising on its huge and often fanatical following, Corinthians has decided to team up with funeral service company Memorial to come up with a package complete with branded coffin, official wreath in club colours as well as the playing of the club anthem at the memorial service.

Under the deal the São Paulo football club pockets 7% of the proceeds of every funeral service sold.

If you're interested you can book your funeral here: http://www.corinthiansparasempre.com.br/

VIDEO: Swarm of bees interrupt football game in São Paulo

Watch how a swarm of bees invaded the match between Ponte Preta and Atletico Sorocaba at the Moisés Lucarelli stadium last Saturday. After chemical and smoke treatment the game was eventually allowed to continue. 

The teams, from Campinas and Sorocaba respectviely, were competing in the Paulistão, the São Paulo state championship when the bees made their appearance.

No players were bitten.

Corinthians launch a blood-stained replica shirt

Corinthians, the biggest club in São Paulo by some margin, is well known for the 'to the death' loyalty and radicalism of its fan base. Similarly the players perceived to give most for the shirt are the ones that go down as legendarily Corinthiano.

In these stakes few surpass Zé Maria who in 1979 literally bled for the club as he played through a game against Ponte Preta despite a shirt soaked with blood from a facial injury suffered during the game.

Zé Maria and his 1979 blood stained shirt

No surprise then that fans with a long memory and longstanding commitment to Corinthians were delighted to see official homage being paid to Zé Maria last week. Bizarrely for anyone without the context, a giant blood stained shirt was unfurled before the game in São Paulo last Wednesday,

Giant version of Ze Maria's blood soaked shirt unveiled in the Pacaembu stadium

And if that wasn't enough it was announced this week that an official Corinthians replica shirt will be created complete with blood stain so fans can wear their very own Camisa Sangrenta and the man who bled for the club can be eternalised or at least his image can be merchandised by the club's marketing department.

VIDEO: Julian Moura-Busquet's The Biggest City in Brazil

  

Whilst clearly being a personal vision of São Paulo reflecting his own unique experiences,  Julian Moura-Busquet's video, The Biggest City in Brazil, manages to capture some of the day day Sampa moments that anyone who lives or has lived in São Paulo will connect to. They are hard to describe textually and perhaps best left to images or video. As Julian, says, "São Paulo is an incredibly diverse concrete jungle. It is a very interesting place but I think one has to live here to understand it"

Most people would agree with that caveat and perhaps we can go further and say that even if you live here it is quite acceptable, given its immensity and diversity not to completely understand it. Therein lies the essence and fun of living in São Paulo.

His video below is categorised thematically but this doesn't stop it portraying the chaotic and diverse feel of the city. It is also interesting to see the categories he has chosen, (the city's relationship with football, how the streets double up as urban canvas, the heaving transport, etc) from a potentially endless choice:

The Biggest City in Brazil. What Comes to Mind? from Julian Moura-Busquets on Vimeo.

VIDEO: Reaction of Corinthian fans in a local bar in São Paulo to Fluminense's equaliser against Vasco

This weekend there were two games to go in the Brasileirão, Corinthians were 2 points ahead of Vasco and winning against Figuerense. Anything but a win for Vasco and Corinthians would take the title. That's the background and here's how the guys in my neighbourhood reacted to Fluminense's equalising goal against Vasco:

Emotional stuff. However Vasco went on to win the game so the league will go down to the wire on the final match of the season which sees Corinthians up against local rival Palmeiras. Can't wait..

Brazilian football referees using temporary spray paint

 

Those of you who are football fans will appreciate how frustrating it is to watch opposition players move the ball closer to goal or at a better angle the second the referee turns his back on a free kick given against your team. And yet the solution is simple and over here it is already being used to great success. It goes like this:

The referee is given a lightweight can of temporary spray paint. When a free kick is awarded within range of goal he marks the exact spot by spraying the grass with paint. He can then walk away knowing the players can´t change the free kick position. After a few minutes the paint disappears and the game continues.

Vanishing spray being applied

It’s been around for years and I’m told across the border in Argentina they even use it to stop the wall moving forwards on freekicks (also a very annoying practice) and it works well so the question is: why do we not have this in European leagues?!

Corinthians reach 1 million Facebook fans

Social media is growing at lightening speed in Brazil. In October 2010 it officially became Twitter's number 1 country and Facebook is now in full growth phase having seen initial growth hampered by the widespread use of the local rival Orkut.

Last week Corinthians, which is the most followed club in São Pualo, proudly announced that they were the first Brazilian football club to reach 1 million fans on Facebook and celebrated by integrating Corinthians TV into their Facebook fan page:

You can watch it here:

The impressive bit is that half of their fans became fans in the last 3 and a half months, that's a rate of about 165,000 new fans per month or 5,500 per day, not bad!

Great photos on Folha's sport section

I always look forward to reading the Folha de São Paulo's sport section and it's partly because it always has a great front page photo + caption combo. Here's a couple of recent ones I liked:

São Paulo crashing out of the Copa do Brasil

Neymar taking the headlines again as Santos wins the Paulistão

Farewell Ronaldo Fenômeno

All good things come to an end. And so it was yesterday. A wet and windy thunderstorm in São Paulo preceded the official farewell of Ronaldo at the legendary Pacaembu stadium where he used to play with Corinthians. The guy was clearly overweight, out of shape and out of his depth and whilst I was amazed the medics let him on the pitch at all nobody else cared; the city had stopped to say “obrigado” to  “o Fenômeno” and nothing else mattered.

Official Goodbye to Ronaldo

And Fenômeno he is. Possibly the greatest number 9 we’ve seen in the modern game he was head and shoulders above his team mates at pretty much every club he went to as well as breaking all imaginable records at the highest level for the seleção. But amid the fanfare and the tears and the memories the burning question was; who on earth is going to replace him? And that is what many of the secondary headlines in today’s newspapers have picked up on. You would have thought the football factory that is Brazil would be able to produce another number 9 but the expectations are unreasonably high. The current coach has already tried André, Diego Tardelli, Hulk, Nilmar, Fred, Alexandre Pato, Jonas as well as Leandro Damião, none of which cut the mustard when you compare with the Fenômeno. Adriano and Luis Fabiano are a little better but only a little and both are ageing and injured.

So who will be the next Fenômeno? Ironically Ronaldo himself may have the answer. In fact he has already told the press who his best replacement is and it is none other than the very player he is now an agent for. It sounds a bit biased but then again we are talking about Neymar, the wonder kid from Santos (Santos is a city in São Paulo state where a certain Pelé began his career) . And when Ronaldo entered the pitch last night, it was Neymar who immediately created a chance for him, not just because he’s his boss but because the player has the unusual ability to create something out of nothing, the creativity, the wow factor. And although he’s only 19, he’s already a huge media icon in Brazil with rumours afoot that the big European clubs will come in for him soon but for now he’s just another wonder kid and to surpass Ronaldo is a big big ask…

So for today at least, let’s just pay homage and say Adeus to the one and only Fenômeno!