Germany v Ghana at the Castelao

Without a doubt, this was one of the best stadium experiences I've ever had.  The Estadio Castelao is purpose-built for soccer, and there isn't a bad seat in the house.  From our middle-of-the-road seats, I could see everything perfectly.

Makes me wish I had a phone that could take fancy pictures

The acoustics are incredible; you can hear fans on the other side of the stadium singing clearly and the goals are deafening.  FIFA strong-armed the local government, which normally bans alcohol sales at games due to excessive fan violence, so the stadium sold beer in collectible cups, as well a 'double hot dog' which was exactly what it sounds like.

I'd guess that there were about a third Germany fans, half Brazil fans, and then a vocal minority of Ghana fans with random others sprinkled around the venue.  The crowd was definitely pro-Ghana, because Brazilians want to see Germany knocked out early (they're also pro-USA, which is nice).  We were in a mix of German and Brazilian fans, and the rivalry was friendly.

On top of being a great venue, the game itself was fantastic.  Germany was generally good, but couldn't get through Ghana's speed and strength on defense.  Khedira was a liability until  he was substituted for Schweinsteiger, though it wasn't totally his fault.  He was played as a central midfielder instead of his more comfortable role as a defensive midfielder, and was sloppy in possession; this led to several chances for Ghana.  Ghana repeated the strengths they demonstrated against America, working the wings and crossing effectively.  Prince-Boateng, Gyan, and Ayew were barely contained by the normally imperious German defence.  I think a draw is a fair result for both teams, but Ghana could argue they deserved to win.

I'm still figuring out what this surprise draw means for America, but it can't be bad.  We had a healthy debate over the various scenarios while we waited for dinner

He didn't have much to say on the topic

Either way, USA will need to take points off of Portugal and possibly Germany, but if they beat Portugal tomorrow they're through.  In any case, I can't wait for our next trip to the Castelao on Tuesday for Ivory Coast v. Greece!

Costa Rica!!!, the beach, and a caipirinha clinic

I've never wanted to be wrong so badly as when I watched Costa Rica take down my 'sure-thing' pick for group D, Italy.  In one fell swoop, they advance as the almost-guaranteed #1 seed in their group, eliminated England (my other pick to advance), and set up a do-or-die game between Italy and Uruguay.  Most impressively, Costa Rica wasn't lucky; they simply outplayed Italy.  Costa Rica pressed Italy in possession, won 50-50 balls, and attacked wisely.  Instead of breaking down the wing and putting in a hopeful cross, they attack to the corner and build from that position.  They either work around the top of the box, or let their tricksters beat a man to put in a purposeful cross; this is what led to their goal.  They defend as a unit, and caught the Italians in the offside trap time and time again (though a few of them weren't actually offsides).  When Costa Rica beat Uruguay, I passed it off as 'these things happen', but when Italy looked similarly cold...  It's tough to deny that Costa Rica isn't the real thing.  I wonder if they'll be able to stifle England and sweep the hardest group in the tournament, and I hope so!

I didn't watch the other two games, because we went to the beach and then to downtown Fortaleza for dinner.  The beach was beautiful at sunset, the water was refreshing, and we could still hear the 'gooooooool's from the beachside restaurants to keep up to date with the soccer games.

Downtown Fortaleza was more or less what I expected, an extension of the beach lifestyle but with pants and shoes instead of speedos and sandals.  The square, which was empty at 9pm and full at 11pm, was home to 8 or so bar carts.  Some had a range of drinks, and some specialized in caipirinhas.  Sensing my opportunity to figure out how to make a caipirinha correctly, I ordered one from a friendly middle-aged Brazilian woman.  She put two heaping tablespoons of sugar in a tall plastic cup, and expertly cut the ends off two limes.  She sliced half of one into circles, and cut the other into eight chunks.  The slices went into the plastic cup, and she juiced the chunks with a hand-held press on top of them.  Then she 'muddled' the limes by mashing them with a plastic rod for a couple minutes.  She started pouring cachaca into a cup while speaking Portuguese, and I didn't realize she was asking me how much cachaca I wanted until there was a quite a bit in the cup.  Her creation didn't fit in a plastic cup so she filled a second one halfway, and charged me 5 Reals (~$2.25).  No wonder the caipirinha is regarded as a 'low-class' drink, they're incredibly cheap.  A whole bottle of cachaca is 8 Reals ($3.50), limes are 3 Real/kg (basically free), and sugar is similarly cheap, which means the ice was probably the costliest part of my drink.  That explains why, unlike anywhere else that has ever served me a drink, she asked how much cachaca I wanted!

Today I'm off to see Germany v. Ghana at the Estadio Castelao.  An emphatic German victory is the best outcome for USA, so keep your fingers crossed!