Our last tourist stop in Rio was the Maracanã stadium which for over 50 years has brought a variety of experiences and emotions to football crazied Brazilians, and hosted some of the best players in the world.
The stadium was originally built in 1950 to host the FIFA World Cup when Uruguay tragically beat the hosts 2-1 in the finals (imagine the atmosphere in that stadium). Last year it was rebuilt in preparation for Brazil’s second world cup this year and the stadium now holds about 85,000 people, making it the largest in South America. The new stadium cost about US$480 million (apparently that’s what it takes to make a stadium World Cup and Olympics worthy) and although it looks great, many of the Brazilian fans find it too posh and miss the old Maracanã.
And they are not the only ones unhappy with the World Cup preparations. Many are concerned that the large amounts being spent on these stadiums are detracting from the public spending going towards things like health and education. Some larger stadiums are being built in places like Mato Grosso which will only be hosting a couple of games even though the city does not have a single team in the country’s top football division.
We were just happy to see the infamous stadium and the place where these two momentous events will take place. Plus we got to follow the footsteps of legends like Pele and Ronaldho and even enter their changing rooms and exercise in their warm up rooms. We may not be the biggest football fans but it was a fun way for us to finish off our manic tourist schedule.
The colours of the seats along with the pitch make up the Brazilian flag and also represent a Sun to warm up the international visitors
I had to put it up. Yes ladies and gentlemen this is the very urinal where Pele used to pee before a match
It's not his name but it's his number
Goes without saying we were the coolest visitors there
Managing an imaginary game
Notice the two front seats especially designed for big butts
The deal was to pretend to be discussing the match but my family tricked me and went for the standard pretty smile pose
