6th June 2007

A British Hooligan in Porto Alegre

Everyone knows how soccer is Brazilian national sport and blahblahblah. There are several leagues every year - state leagues for most Brazilian states, minor regional leagues, 2 national Cups among the country’s most important teams and the South-American Cup, Libertadores da America or “America Liberators”, the South-American counterpart to Eurocup. The winner of Libertadores is one of the teams who play the FIFA Club World Cup. Among the club supporters nationwide one of the most known for its supporters fanaticism and motivation is the Gremio from Porto Alegre (Fifa Club World Cup champion in 1983).

Yesterday Gremio qualified to the final match of Libertadores (which it won twice) and I told Ira if it did, I’d publish a post about it here. So here it is. It was a dramatic match against Santos (who also won two Cups) and not decided until the last minute, as good soccer match must be, heh.

But Gremio supporters are famous by their “avalanches” (human landslides) after a goal scored by the team. Bellow you can see Danny Dyer talking about Gremio in a real match footage last year in Porto Alegre. Danny is a British reporter whose show/documentary - The Real Football Factories International - was broadcast in UK by Bravo last 25th may.

Geral do Grêmio - Gremio x Flamengo - Danny Dyer no Olímpico

This is the video showing a impressive “humanslide” in a match last year.

Avalanche Grêmio x Vasco - filmada das cadeiras do Olímpico

And this one shows a human landslide from inside the mob of supporters, after a penalty kick scored against Santos, last week:

Grêmio 2 x 0 Santos (Avalanche 1º gol)

As a curiosity, Ronaldinho started his successful career at Gremio and won a Brazilian League in 2001 with the team. And, yep, Porto Alegre is my hometown and, yep, Gremio is the soccer team I support.

posted in Brazil in the news, Oddities, Sports, Videos by Rico Ferrari | 1 Comment

6th June 2007

Park of the Youth in Sao Paulo

As I promess some images from Parque da Juventude (Park of the Youth) in Sao Paulo where used to be the terrible Carandiru Prison.

Photos from Parque da Juventude Official Site

Parque da Juventude

Parque da Juventude

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posted in Brazil in the news, History, People, Photography, Sao Paulo by Ira O'Neill | 0 Comments