Rio de Janeiro: Brazilians aren’t too happy about the fact that Argentina have taken centre stage in their party. After their dreams about winning the sixth World Cup evaporated in Belo Horizonte, they immediately started worrying about Argentina’s chances. The last thing Brazilians want now is the coronation of their fierce rivals at the Maracana. Neymar may be rooting for his Barcelona mate Lionel Messi on Sunday but his compatriots don’t have time for South American bonhomie.
Despite inflicting a damaging defeat on Brazil, Germany now have the full support of the hosts. For that, they have to be grateful to Argentina. Enemy’s enemy will be Brazil’s friend at the Maracana on Sunday. Thousands of fans from Argentina have swarmed the streets of Rio to get ready for the biggest day on their sporting calendar in more than two decades. It looks as if a blue army has invaded a yellow country.
Argentina fans are immensely enjoying Brazil’s plight. They are the toast of foreign TV crews. If Brazilians start shouting Alemanha (Portuguese for Germany) to interrupt interviews, their Argentine counterparts simply show seven fingers to remind them of the pasting the Selecao received in the semifinal.
Argentina’s presence has pushed the price of tickets through the roof in the black market. Head-spinning amounts in the region of $10,000 are floating around. Fifa says Argentine and German fans have been allocated 13,000 tickets each and the stadium’s capacity is in the region of 74,000.
