Postcard from Brazil: Celebrating U.S. win in Natal

We are staying in a quaint pousada 25 miles north of Natal, right on the beach. We took in a good Brazilian breakfast with juices, fruits, fresh breads, eggs and cheeses, and then hopped a rickety local bus with guys from Reno and San Francisco we’d met at check-in. We took it too deep into the city, not knowing exactly where we should’ve gotten off it as we sought the official U.S. soccer pre-party. A long cab ride later, we arrived and there were black suits and ties to greet us and allow us entry upon finding my reservation on an iPad. They chose not to advertise it as a U.S. party, instead marking the building with a red, white, and blue banner scribed with “Uma Nacao, Uma Equipe” (One Nation, One Team).

There were U.S. supporters decked out in Stars and Stripes apparel and four squared zones of seats and TV screens showing the Germany versus Portugal game. On the outskirts was a fair ticket system to buy food and drinks. They had a DJ in the back blasting Vegas club music which we found irksome if not insulting to soccer fans in choosing it over the broadcast. There was a huge area in front of the DJ, which I saw from a fan’s phone had been completely club-packed from the night before pre-party, but laid empty now. The prices for the food and drinks were five times those of the outside world, and one quadrant was all white linens and exclusive to the families of team members and officials.

One group of guys showed up with much ballyhoo dressed in Globetrotter basketball uniforms with the names of presidents on their backs, and numbers that matched the order of presidents.

We then took a taxi to take in the other pre-party organized by the U.S. fan club called The Outlaws. It was at a huge corner pizza place and was packed with U.S. fans spilling out into a side street. High fives were everywhere and we chanted and sang our anthem and “America the Beautiful.” There was Teddy Roosevelt, Rosie the Riveter, Duff Man from “The Simpsons,” Captain America, Abraham Lincoln and two Coneheads from “SNL” among the red, white and blue crowd. The atmosphere was wild and rowdy like a Panama City spring break. The prices there too were gouging at double cost, and we followed the lead of others to buy some wine at a store a few blocks away.

As we walked up the sidewalk, suddenly a riot team hopped off of a truck and took formation with full shields to block off the street. We passed them and came upon another group a block farther up right at the store’s entrance. The air turned scary and we were turned away as they locked up the doors and told us to enter through a backside parking garage. From within the store’s windows I saw the marching protest group in a standoff with the police, waving flags and banners to protest the Cup and call for spending on education and health care. It lasted 15 minutes or so and then dispersed peacefully with many of the protesters appearing to be teens and college students.

We drank our wine with locals at tables in the store and watched the Nigeria versus Iran game end in a draw.

We took a cab to the nearby Arena das Dunas and just made it to our seats in time for Clint Dempsey’s history-making goal. The atmosphere with the majority US crowd was electric. Ghana seemed to dominate the game and our hearts sank with their equalizer goal to make it 1-1. But then John Brooks’ header minutes later set things right as we exploded in celebration. We shared the joy with the US fans outside the stadium after the game and caught a cab back to our beachside villa. The experience was very special and we trampolined to victory into our beds feeling very proud to be Americans!

Brennan Karle is a Las Vegas teacher who covers prep sports for the Review-Journal. He’s in Brazil for the World Cup and will be sharing electronic postcards on his experiences. You can see photos of his trip on Instagram at brennankarle.