The parallels for the expectant people of Fortaleza are uncanny. Almost a year ago to the day, Brazil faced Mexico at the Estadio Castelão in the second group game of the Confederations Cup, having won the first against Japan.
Victory saw them qualify for the knockout stage. On Tuesday evening at the Castelão, Brazil face Mexico in the second group game of the World Cup, having won the first against Croatia. Victory will almost certainly see them through.
Local pulses are racing. Everywhere you look, Brazil flags flutter and it must be a crime to wear anything other than a yellow shirt. Having theSeleção here is cherished and the people appreciate it more, perhaps, than those of Rio or São Paulo, who can take it somewhat for granted.
Before last summer, the last time Brazil played in this north-east coastal town was in August 2002 in a friendly against Paraguay. It was the glorious homecoming after the Japan and South Korea World Cup, although the result did not go to plan. The champions lost 1-0.
What reverberates most strongly, though, from Mexico’s last visit, is what happened in the stadium before the kick-off. When the Brazilian national anthem stopped playing after 90 seconds,the players, led by the captain, Thiago Silva, and David Luiz, together with the fans, continued to sing. Loudly. The a cappella rendition bristled with pride and passion. It was deeply moving and everybody remembers it.
It had happened before but it was somehow different on this occasion, more powerful. It has since become an established part of Brazil’s pre-match ritual. The global audience before last Thursday’s World Cup opener witnessed it and they will do so again before the Mexico tie.
Thiago Silva even made a pre-match call to the match-going Brazil support, although it did not feel necessary. “Hug the person beside you and sing the anthem with us,” he said. “It pushes us forward. When David and myself made the point of singing the anthem together … it shows we are together. If the fans do it too we’ll know they are with us.”
The outpouring before the 2013 meeting with Mexico came as violent demonstrations raged outside the Castelão. Around 30,000 people protested against corruption, social injustice and high taxes and clashed with riot police who fired tear gas and rubber bullets. There had been similar protests in other Brazilian cities and there would be another one in Fortaleza before it hosted the Confederations Cup semi-final between Spain and Italy.
People here still shudder at the memory. It was terrifying but seemed to underpin the solidarity inside the stadium before the game against Mexico. Neymar, Brazil’s star player, said he was “inspired by this movement” while Hulk, the forward, added that he felt like joining the protesters.
Now, demonstrations have flared in several cities during the World Cup but not with the same ferocity or frequency as in 2013. This time, it has tended to be specific groups – teachers, transport workers or anti-capitalists – taking to the streets to voice their grievances rather than swaths of people across the board. There has been relief in Fortaleza.
Brazil beat Mexico 2-0 at the Confederations Cup and in some style, too, with Neymar turning in one of his most impressive performances at international level. There is the hope among Brazilians that history can repeat itself, as that result ignited the Seleção’s Confederations Cup campaign, which culminated in victory over Spain in the final.
In the opening game against Japan – a few flashes from Neymar apart, including a wonderful opening goal – they had been ordinary, unconvincing; a little like last Thursday against Croatia in São Paulo, where the 3-1 result was, by some distance, the best thing about the game.
It has to be said that while Brazilians like to win, they demand that they do so with panache. There remain one or two grumbles about Luiz Felipe Scolari being a defensive manager, even if three of his back four would not appear to consider defending as a priority – Dani Alves, Marcelo and David Luiz.
The team were booed during their final World Cup warm-up fixture against Serbia in São Paulo, which they edged 1-0, and which seemed like another echo of the recent past. In the countdown to the Confederations Cup, in the 2-2 draw with Chile in São Paulo, the home fans had shouted “Olé” during phases of Chilean possession. São Paulo is a tough crowd to please.
The Croatia game was, according to the front page of one of the Fortaleza dailies, a Vitória Nervosa, and even the most blinkered of locals had to concede that Brazil had benefited from a string of refereeing decisions, most notably the penalty award that followed Dejan Lovren’s innocuous brush with Fred. Scolari is determined to cast off the shackles against Mexico once more.
He knows it will be tough, and not only because Mexico looked good in victory over Cameroon last Friday. Mexico are something of a bogey team for Brazil, having beaten them on regular occasions in competitive fixtures over the past 15 years.
One game that stands out is the final of the London Olympics in 2012, even though it was essentially an Under-23 tournament. Brazil entered knowing that anything short of victory would represent failure, which chimes with the mood in the country at present. They had never won Olympic gold, which is both a curiosity and an aggravation, and they still have not, after Mexico upstaged them to win 2-1 at Wembley.
Brazil were led by the then senior manager, Mano Menezes, and a handful of the players that have formed the basis of their World Cup team featured in the final – Thiago Silva, Marcelo, Neymar, Oscar and Hulk (as a substitute). Ten of Mexico’s 23-man squad for the Olympics have made it to the World Cup.
Defeat cut Brazil to the core. Neymar lay on the field for several minutes after the full-time whistle while many of Brazil’s players did not look at their silver medals during the presentation ceremony. “That one especially hurt,” Oscar said. “It was a title we didn’t have. But we know Mexico has a very good team and they have always created difficulties for Brazil. It won’t be any different this time.”
It remains possible to enjoy the confidence that the majority of Brazil supporters project. “There is a phrase that is bandied about here that roughly translates as ‘Brazil can only lose to itself’,” Jon Cotterill, the English-language commentator for TV Globo, said. “In other words, defeats are not down to the quality of the opposition, merely Brazil’s own shortcomings. Is it cocky? Yes. But they have won five World Cups.”
They hope that the Fortaleza factor can fire the quest for the sixth.
