The Brazilians have already decorated some streets in their cities to prepare for Qatar 2022, a tournament in which their team is one of the favorites to win their sixth world title.
The tradition of decorating the streets in Brazil dates back several decades and although it has declined over time, it remains strong in some streets from north to south of the “football country”.
The street Pereira Nunes, in Rio de Janeiro, has been decorated continuously for the World Cups since the 1982 edition in Spain, since the beginning of the tradition Julio, a man who continues to live there and who passed on the legacy to the youngest .
This year, five blocks from the legendary Maracana Stadium, this street was one of the finalists in a national competition held by a brewery to choose the best decorated street for the tournament taking place in Qatar.
A graffiti on the wall with the faces of mythical players such as Pelé and Garrincha and a drawing on the asphalt of a muscular canary, the mascot of the Brazilian team, stand out in the decoration.
“On the way to Hexa” was read on the floor on the street, referring to the sixth world championship Brazilian fans dream of since Canarinha won their fifth star 20 years ago, in Korea and Japan in 2002.
The illustrator Rodrigo Habib, the boyfriend of a young woman who lives on this street in the Tijuca neighborhood, was invited this year to help design the decoration.
He assures that he accepted it without hesitation, because he always liked this tradition and the street where he lives has not been decorated since 1998.
Habib explains that it is now “very difficult” to find streets decorated for the World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, a custom that has gradually been lost for various reasons.
“Fewer and fewer national team players play in Brazil, the identity is a bit lost,” explains the illustrator.
For participating in the competition, residents of the street received a prize of 9,000 reais (about $1,700) to pay for the paint used in the decoration, and a giant screen to watch the World Cup matches.
The tradition of decorating the streets, where the fans later gather to watch Brazil’s matches, extends to the whole country.
In Manaus, the capital of the state of Amazonas, 24 de Agosto street was left completely in the shade, under a roof of papel picado that reproduces the flags of Brazil, Qatar and the shields of the four major teams of Rio de Janeiro: Flamengo , Fluminense, Vasco da Gama and Botafogo.
In Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, Brazilian flags and drawings of La’eeb, the mascot of Qatar 2022, adorn several streets, including Manuel Muniz de Brito and Luís Villar, in Osasco.
Source: El heraldo
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
