Mikey Stafford reports for TheScore.ie from Rio De Janeiro
FOR SUCH A busy airport Rio’s Galeao seems to have a particularly short runway.
Watching from the viewing platform at Christ the Redeemer it appears planes landing at the island terminal come to a near-immediate stop upon making contact with terra firma.
As we skimmed in over the water last night on our flight from Recife I was bracing myself not for impact, but for whiplash. As soon as we made contact, we heard the almighty roar as the engines were thrust into reverse and the plane did indeed slow to a crawl in a swift, if smooth, manner.
The pilot nailed it. Textbook landing and all that. Airline pilots train diligently just so these things — landing on postage stamp island runways — become everyday acts.
Footballers train a lot too but it seems winning a World Cup is no everyday act. It’s just seven little steps to heaven but unlike Galeao’s shrinking runway the steps seem to get bigger and bigger, and the pressure is beginning to show.
Advertisement
Galeao airport, home of happiness. AP / Press Association Images
AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images
Brazil have brought in a sports psychiatrist, Regina Brandao, who may herself soon need to see a shrink, such is the glare of the media spotlight on her activities at the Selecao’s training camp in Teresepolis.
The sight of Julio Cesar, Neymar and even captain Thiago Silva blubbering before, during and after Brazil’s second round penalty shootout win over Chile has not impressed the likes of Carlos Alberto, Silva’s predecessor when Brazil won the tournament in 1970.
AP / Press Association Images
AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images
It’s not just the players though. The stress of watching Brazil has become so intense that some team officials have been getting rid of their tickets. The fact that those tickets ended up in the hands of an 11-strong gang of touts may, ironically, end up causing those officials more stress than sitting through Brazil’s quarter-final with Colombia in Fortaleza tomorrow.
The busting of the ticketing scam was a good day for the Brazilian police, but there are signs the thin blue line is also in danger of cracking under pressure.
How else do you explain the counter-productive deployment of noise and smoke bombs to break up a party that was going on too loud and too long into the São Paulo night. Next the fire brigade are going to start tackling fires with petrol.
AP / Press Association Images
AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images
The Military Police have been accused of heavy-handedness on a number of occasions during the tournament and while they maintain that the use of “moral effect” grenades was a response to revellers throwing stones and bottles, it is just as likely that the chief cause of the flare-up was the supporters’ provocative clothing.
In the early stages of the tournament it was okay to wear an Argentina jersey in the street, to mass or even to a World Cup match, but the progress of Brazil’s southerly neighbours at this World Cup is in direct, opposite proportion to the social acceptability of donning the blue and white stripes.
AP / Press Association Images
AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images
So, for those fans to be dressed so provocatively, celebrating Argentina’s workmanlike victory over Switzerland at 2am on a school night was always likely to elicit a response — in this case grenades of the “moral effect” variety.
Strain
There are only seven games remaining at this World Cup — eight if you count the sister-shifting session that is the third-fourth play-off — and everyone is beginning to feel the strain.
After nearly four weeks in Brazil’s northeast I thought I would return to Rio de Janeiro with enough Portuguese to at least order a pizza and pay for it, but the accent down south changes so dramatically that it is like the locals are speaking yet another language I don’t understand.
My initial attempts at asking for “a quanta” were so poor it sounded like, instead of requesting the bill, I was looking for a Jerry Springer Show guest called “Laquanda”. But after weeks of practice it was refined, only for the waitress in the pizzeria in Botafogo last night to stare at me blankly.
It was a tremendous blow to my self-confidence.
That’s the thing about the knockout stages, there’s no safety net and what you did in the earlier rounds count for nothing.
There is bound to be stress but what counts is how you deal with it — you can either land the plane safely, talk to someone about your feelings, or start hurling grenades. Your choice.
Mikey, I wouldn’t recommend ever wearing an Argentine jersey in Brasil. Just like I wouldn’t wear a Rangers jersey in Dublin on a night out. Asking for trouble unfortunately.
Found the best way to perfect my Potuguese was to get myself a pillow dictionary. Worked for me here 10 years now.
I know that feel. Wore a United jersey to Anfield in 2010. Liverpool won 2-0 and everytime they scored, I was right BESIDE the Kop end and had to half-heartedly applaud them, because I didn’t want to gice away the fact I was a United fan.
Here we go: The eight teams that start the race for Sam Maguire this weekend
1 hr ago
1
End game
IRFU to discontinue men's Sevens programme
22 hrs ago
45
Sign in or create a free account
To continue reading create a free account
Or sign into an existing account
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 187 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.Privacy Policy
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 126 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 165 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 129 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 91 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 92 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 44 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 41 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 150 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 69 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 88 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 95 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 40 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 56 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 29 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 107 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 111 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 79 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 60 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 100 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 83 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
Mikey, I wouldn’t recommend ever wearing an Argentine jersey in Brasil. Just like I wouldn’t wear a Rangers jersey in Dublin on a night out. Asking for trouble unfortunately.
Found the best way to perfect my Potuguese was to get myself a pillow dictionary. Worked for me here 10 years now.
I know that feel. Wore a United jersey to Anfield in 2010. Liverpool won 2-0 and everytime they scored, I was right BESIDE the Kop end and had to half-heartedly applaud them, because I didn’t want to gice away the fact I was a United fan.
Conor, think the fact that you were wearing the jersey might have been a slight giveaway! Didn’t know there was a short-sighted section of the kop.