Loving Crowd and Blond Girl

I’m really having a ball watching the Seleção training sessions. Bob got us a video to show how boring it can be, but what the video doesn’t show is a great variety of sweet moments that will remain tattooed in my Brazilian heart. Of course I find it very dull to see a bunch of men doing routine exercises like anybody else, but what gets me smiling is the reaction of the crowd captured by the cameras from time to time. The little kids screaming Dida’s name and realizing that Dida is capable of smiling too, which configures a rare moment if you know that goalkeeper.

Another nice moment (so nice they kept replaying all the time) happened yesterday. Somebody threw a ball on Ronaldinho’s head while he was distracted. He was completely taken by surprise, even dropped the ankle protection he was holding. Even so he dominated the ball without letting in touch the ground and gracefully kicked it away. It seemed so natural to him, a very candid moment indeed.

After that dull routine we can watch the attack vs. defense training. Today it was even better, because they had 2 teams on the pitch. One great concern was the defensive potential of the A team, so they were coordinated to receive more pressure. Then they would counter-attack with the magic quartet for the delight of the crowd. The game was a lot smoother than a real game; nobody is crazy to injure a friend at this time, naturally.

Today’s high moment was when a blond woman jumped in the pitch and ran towards Ronaldinho. I think nobody predicted this kind of behavior in Switzerland. Needless to say, she was Brazilian and her name is Sheila Soares. The guards were absolutely surprised and Ronaldinho kept lying on the ground looking at her. The woman gave him a hug and he hugged back. The other players started clapping their hands while the woman pushed him to the ground. Robinho, always goofing around, dropped his mat over both.

That’s the kind of thing that I enjoy to watch. It’s beautiful to see the Brazilians entertaining a loving crowd, displaying for anyone to see how they feel about their job and their fans. Well, that girl being Brazilian it is only a matter of time until she poses for a nude magazine. It happened before! But it was a much crazier story than this.

“Brazil played the qualifying against Venezuela and Chile. Few Brazilians remember those matches, but one episode remained: in the second match against Chile, Brazil was winning by 1 x 0; a woman launched fireworks into the field and nearly hit Rojas, Chilean goalkeeper. Instructed by his managers, Rojas pretended that he had been hit in his head; he used a blade to self cut his temple, in an attempt to blame the (lack of) Brazilian organization. The performance didn’t convince anyone, Rojas was banned and Brazil was qualified. The interesting thing is that the woman who launched the fire became cover of the Playboy magazine. Her name was Rosenery Mello, but she became known as Maria Fogueteira (Rocket Mary).” (source)

Can’t wait to see what will happen tomorrow. Probably just the same with a few little details different. Sweet details.