Home »

BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - Huge street parties erupted in Brazil's capital and later in Rio de Janeiro as more than a million people celebrated the return of the country's triumphant World Cup team with samba dancing, sirens and fireworks.

Showing Brazil's ability to burst into spontaneous revelry, the scene at the presidential palace in the normally formal Brasilia rivalled the nation's yearly Carnival festivities.

Rio, home to the world's most famous and colourful pre-Lenten Carnival, joined Brasilia in the rejoicing over the country's unprecedented fifth World Cup soccer title, won last Sunday in Japan.

Over a million Rio residents lined central avenues and the roads alongside the city's famed beaches to catch a glimpse of the national heroes who arrived after nightfall, following a longer-than-expected celebration in Brasilia.

The similarity with Carnival festivities became even greater after the team snubbed fire engines -- the traditional parade transportation for soccer champions -- in favour of huge open trucks with loudspeakers blasting out samba tunes.

The party was set to be repeated in the early hours on Wednesday in Brazil's biggest city, Sao Paulo, where the players who have not yet caught flights to their respective hometowns, will parade at the Carnival stadium.

As the team's chartered plane arrived from Japan, four fighter jets escorted the Boeing into Brasilia's clear, blue skies, and then looped about painting "Penta" -- Portuguese for "fifth" -- with smoke trails.

In front of the palace -- where President Fernando Henrique Cardoso embraced the players and gave each of them the National Order of Merit -- about 200,000 people thronged the large square after waiting hours under the blistering sun.

A further 300,000 people lined the capital's avenues, hanging out of trees or bouncing in the backs of pickups as the team's trucks crawled from the airport to the palace.

Doris Xavier, 37, jumped up and down on her car, stuck in traffic as Brasilia came to a standstill for hours. "It's like your child coming home," she shrieked. Most public workers were given the day off.

FROM UNDERDOGS TO CHAMPIONS

The team had been blasted in the national press before the championship tournament and virtually written off after struggling to qualify. Instead, it returned to the jubilant South American nation as World Cup champions after defeating Germany 2-0 in the final in Yokohama, Japan.

Brazil previously won the World Cup in 1958, 1962, 1970 and 1994.

"The players responded and the people gave their response today," said Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, known as "Big Phil."

During the team's slow drive to the palace, captain Cafu, Scolari and star striker Ronaldo, who scored both goals in Brazil's victory on Sunday, took turns raising the World Cup trophy. Another striker, Ronaldinho Gaucho, endlessly beat out Afro-Brazilian rhythms on drums.

Millions across the country watched the homecoming live on television all day, often leaving work aside.

UNIFYING THE NATION

The passion for soccer is a unifying force in this multicultural country, allowing its 170 million people to forget crime, gaping inequalities and poverty for a day.

"There is a union of happiness from this extraordinary victory," said Sen. Eduardo Suplicy, one of the leaders of the opposition Workers Party, as he waited outside the palace to see the team. "They give an example to the whole country, the feeling of being Brazilian is increased."

In the presidential palace, public servants filled the wide gallery above the ramp usually reserved for visiting foreign dignitaries as the players arrived. Under Cardoso's office, a samba band banged its drums as the players danced and somersaulted on a podium.

"I dreamt that I asked for the signatures of the players," said Ethyenne, 12, who had been allowed into the palace after feeling ill. "The reality was better than my dream."

by A. Bugge

Source Fifaworldcup.com