The Beautiful

Sport

Love of the sport goes more than skin deep

and Delneri Martins Viana wears his heart and a good deal more besides on his sleeve as a fanatical supporter of Rio side Botafogo. Retired soldier Delneri describes himself as the club's "most fanatical" fan - and he certainly looks the part, with his body covered in no less than 83 tattoos showing the sporting love of his life. Brazilians live and breathe football - from getting in a taxi to standing in the supermarket queue the conversation almost always comes round to it as a perfect way to break the social ice

Men, women, children - everyone has a view on a subject that fascinates everyone.The passion is everywhere.There's the trader who years ago made a solemn promise to wear his club's colours day after day.And then there are the families who, almost as soon as their child is born, rush to have it registered as a club member.Club often comes before country - though team loyalties will be put aside in a year when Brazil's national team bid to land their fifth World Cup, and on home soil, in June.Delneri, 69, says he likes the national team too but explains their games "just don't have the same emotion" as when he is watching his Botafogo.

Born in a small southern town he never imagined living one day in Rio de Janeiro, the home of his sporting passion. But, aged 23, he joined the army and came to the "Marvelous City." Since then, his allegiance has been black and white - the colours of Botafogo, once the team of the legendary Garrincha. "There's nothing else in my wardrobe," grins Delneri, who does all he can to attend all of Botafogo's games, home or away. Once at the stadium, he makes his way with purpose up to the terraces clad in black and white shorts - of course - and flipflops likewise in club colours. No need for a shirt either - his tattoos make his loyalties perfectly plain.

Many of those gathered come over to greet him and have their picture taken with "the tattooed one," who has become something of a celebrity. Delneri doesn't stop at tattoos either, carefully painting fingers and toes black and applying the white star club logo on top. "Getting a tattoo done is painful. But if you do it because you want to then it's a pleasure," he beams, indicating he may have some more done to cover the few bits of skin which remain bare. Brazilians refer to such football fanatics as "torcedor doente" (a sick fan). Delneri retorts: "The ones who don't support Botafogo are the sick ones."

I think I love my club more than I do myself,

Through the generations

Delneri had his first tattoo done 14 years ago and dedicated it to Garrincha. Since then he has become a walking advert for the club, his works of body art ranging from badges to mottos and anthems. He even has one in Honor of Biriba, a dog belonging to a club former chairman who would take the animal to games in the belief he brought the team luck. Botafoguense are superstitious like that - and that goes for Delneri's daughter Glaucia, who won't take her place in the stands unless she is wearing an official team jersey. Glaucia, 44, and younger sibling Marcela, 38, each have their own tattoos - albeit 'only' ten. But they both accompany their father to matches whenever they can.

"I went to the Maracana from the age of six. I learned to love the club as my father does and now it's my passion," says Glaucia, whose Botafogo page on Facebook has 2,800 followers. Brazilian women in general take their football very seriously, and more than hold their own when it comes to debating performances and tactics. Delneri's wife Malvina Gonalves herself only attends games occasionally. But she carefully maintains the home they have shared for 45 years as a shrine to their team. Their house in the modest Rio suburb of Bangu bears a sign which reads: "Welcome - but please don't speak ill of Botafogo." Inside, the decor is black and white and several pictures of the team are on display with other club effects. In addition, the family dogs are named after Garrincha and former Uruguayan favorite Loco Abreu. "I think I love my club more than I do myself," chortles Malvina. Her husband interjects she comes first for him - but Botafogo are a close second.

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    Joga Bonito: Play Beautifully

    Football is the most popular sport in Brazil.

    Granted, it is the most popular sport in the world, that being the reason that an international tournament like the World Cup even exists, and is the most popular sport in a majority of other countries, but something about Brazilian football sets it apart from football in the rest of the world.

    Football in Latin America is different in general from most other regions. The fans are much rowdier, the security is much stricter to counteract that fact, the singing never stops and people live and die with every blocked shot, crazy trick, pinpoint pass, smooth dribble and stunning goal. Brazilians are known for their style of Joga Bonito (literally, play beautifully) that displays itself with fluid movements, quick decision-making and accurate kicks. The passion of the Brazilian football fan is something that cannot be compared and it spreads through all facets of their lives. The passion that Brazilians have for football is the same passion they have for music, food, culture, sunshine, and life itself. It drives them every day and is the reason that Brazilians always find a way to get the most out of life. They should be commended for this gift because it rubs off on everyone that has the opportunity to experience it.

    Brazil's club level football is not structured like the typical league systems in Europe and other parts of the world. Each year, a state championship and a national championship are held. This began because Brazil is geographically such a large country that historically it was unfeasible for the clubs to travel the large distances between states to play each other. As a result of this, state championships were originally the most important leagues played until the national championship became more practical and grew in popularity. These days, the state championships are generally played from January to April or May and the national championship is usually from May to December. The number of games is not reduced compared to European leagues however, so they are played much more frequently, typically with multiple games per week. But Brazilians can never have too much football, so it's not like anyone is complaining about having two championships per year.

    No national league would be complete without its most popular and well-known clubs to keep fans jumping out of their seats every week. Supporters will argue to the death that their club is the most popular but it has yet to be measured officially so I will stay out of the way and just throw it out there that the main dispute argues between Flamengo of Rio de Janeiro and Corinthians of São Paulo. As one would expect, many of the most popular teams are located in the larger more populated states, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. After Flamengo and Corinthians, there are Santos, São Paulo and Palmeiras from São Paulo state, and Fluminense, Botafogo and Vasco da Gama from Rio de Janeiro state. Other teams like Internacional from Rio Grande do Sul state are also very popular, but teams outside of the two main cities tend to receive mostly just local support whereas the teams from RJ and SP have legions of fans spread throughout the country and the world. There is less of a sensation of having a "big four," "big three" or "big two" in the Brazilian league as is found in many European leagues, with a few teams winning year in and year out. This provides more of a sense of parity that makes it bearable for fans to support their team if it is not at the top of the league every year.

    Museu do Futebol

    Brazil is so crazy about its football that it dedicated an entire museum to preserving its grand history and unique cultural distinctions in the country. Located in the colorful Pacaembu Stadium in São Paulo, the Museu do Futebol highlights the illustrious history of the sport in Brazil. Of all the museums that I visited when in São Paulo, the Museu do Futebol was by far my favorite (of course, you would expect that to come from a diehard football fan, wouldn't you?).

    It walks you through a number of floors and rooms filled to the brim with everything to satisfy the football fan in all of us, all starting with a warm greeting from Pelé in Portuguese, English and Spanish. Within the walls is a treasure chest: Brazilian football paraphernalia, a tribute to the legends of Brazilian football, an archive of all major goal scoring moments of the Brazilian national team as narrated by journalists and every type of public media figure, and radio broadcasts. Further along is a collection of videos showing the fans of many Brazilian club teams in celebration (one of my favorite parts). The history of football and its development in Brazil as told through pictures, followed by a composition about the various cultural icons of Brazil, including Carmen Miranda, Villa-Lobos, and many more bring the local and foreigner alike up to speed about the countless aspects that affect the sport. A room replicating the full experience of Brazil's loss to Uruguay in the 1950 World Cup on home soil provides a gripping sense of the pure dread felt nationwide on that day. The World Cup room, detailing the events of the Cup itself along with various historic events around the world that occurred around the same time is a place that I could spend hours without a doubt. Finally a memorial to Pelé and Garrincha, a collection of unusual statistics, variations of the sport, videos of different skill moves, a panel of information about all 128 teams that have participated in the Brazilian championship, and even a chance to test the velocity of your shot at goal from a penalty kick position round out the football museum experience and leave even non-football fans caught up in the magic of the beautiful game.

    ...The football museum experience can leave even non-football fans caught up in the magic of the beautiful game.

    Football is Life in Brazil

    I was told recently by our very own Berta Papp that during the most recent World Cup in South Africa in 2010, people took full days off to watch the games and celebrate or recover for the rest of the day as the energy and emotions debilitated people from thinking about anything but the national team and its exploits. This level of enthusiasm is also seen in other countries, of course, but in Brazil it takes on a mind of its own.

    Banks and businesses don't close just during the game, but for the whole day. And as Berta mentioned, when Brazil was knocked out of the 2010 tournament, the streets were empty, everything was quiet, São Paulo suddenly became a ghost town because the dreams for the tournament were over. São Paulo with nobody in the streets and no traffic. Now that's a site you don't see very often.

    As you can see, as if you didn't already know, football is life in Brazil and that is something to be respected. How do you think the fact that Brazil breathes football will affect the World Cup in their land?