Salvador Fan Fest

We have arrived in beautiful Salvador, Brasil and are staying at a wonderful hotel in the Itapua area.  Yesterday was a great day as we woke up basking in the glory of the USA win over Ghana and headed to the Pelourinho in the old part of the city.  It was totally decked out for the Cup, as most of the country is, in the  yellow and green of Brasil. After exploring, checking out the cathedral, watching some Capoeira and some Oludum (sp?) drumming, and doing a little shopping, we grabbed another cab down to the Fan Fest.  When we got there it was relatively quiet, with a few hundred people sitting around, watching the Belgium-Algeria match on the GIGANTIC screen.  The two Algerians went ballistic when their team took an early lead on a PK.We quickly found a small group of four Mexicans and joined them.  Anytime we saw another verde or rojo we called them over and our group quickly grew.  By kickoff of the Brasil-Mexico clash we were numbering 40 or so, but that number continued to increase as the game went on and I believe there were over a hundred by games end.  The entire area was standing room only for the match and felt as if we were in the actual stadium.  Our group, especially with some very cool Lucha Libre masks, was the subjuect of countless photo and even video requests from fans and media alike.We sang all the songs and chants (got to clarify some of the words before Croatia) and had a really great Puuuu-Tooooo! for all of Julio Cesar´s goal kicks.  It was an absolutely electrifying environment and I can´t wait for the Croatia game in person next week.

The game itself was a classic, hard-fought 0-0 draw between two hungry teams.  Brasil started out much stronger as Mexico appeared to be very amped for the game.  Memo Ochoa stopped an early shot (one of many on the day) and El Tri started to settle down.  Miguel Herrera´s strategy was aggressive, tackling hard and makingit difficult for Neymar, Oscar or anyone else to do a whole lot in the middle of the field. While some of the Mexican stars like Miguel Layun and Orribe Perralta were quiet throughout most of the match, others like Gallito Vasquez and Andres Guardado had excellent games.  Captain Rafa Marquez played very well, marking Neymar often and pushing upfield on offense.  Keeper Ochoa was phenomenal and earned millions of dollars for hisnext contract with the performance, as well as relegating an outstanding Jesus Corona to the bench for the forseeable future-I think even Senora Corona would agree here. Twitter exploded with references and tributes to him and his is now known worldwide. As I expected, Mexico ripped numerous long rockets but could not keep them on goal, narrowing missing left, right and over the crossbar numerous times.  Even late in the game, they kept pushing for the win, refusing to sit back and settle for a draw.  All three substitutions were offensive minded. When the game ended in a tie, we celebrated a well-earned point as if it was a win.  When we got back to the hotel the game was being replayed on TV and I got to relive it following it on my twitter timeline. This now sets Mexico up to advance with a tie or win against the Croats. That game should blow this one away in terms of excitement.