Live from the World Cup: A travel diary from Brazil

When Portugal scored to make it 1-0, the crowd roared just like it did when Tim Howard made a save minutes earlier. Ghana’s equalizer brought the same nervous silence as Germany’s corner kicks. And when Cristiano Ronaldo scored, all but booking the Yanks’ place in the knockout stages, the Americans went wild, screaming and throwing beer as though Clint Dempsey had found the net.

That feeling was worth the day of agony that preceded it.

Let us consider the opinions:

An Italian on Suárez: “Fuck him.”

The wave is awful. It is not something fans do in support of their team or their player. It is not in response to anything during the match. It has no purpose whatsoever and has nothing to do with soccer. Or any sport, really.

On Monday, the wave was back at Arena das Dunas, but it died a quick death every time the Brazilians tried it. That’s because when it got to the Uruguayan section, they refused to do it. One large man yelled, “estupido” when it came by the rest hurled expletives at the Brazilian section next to them who started it. Even the few Uruguayans who tried it were yelled at.

The Church of Andrea Pirlo was in session at the Arena das Dunas on Tuesday.

And this for a 36-year-old who can barely run anymore, has to have a team built around him and was the enemy to half of the stadium.

How any of them had any tears left by the end of it all was beyond me.

Thirty minutes before kick off, the Uruguayans were singing so loudly inside the stadium that it was echoing around the concourses. They chanted at every opportunity and celebrated goals with some of the most violent hugs I’ve ever seen.

MANAUS, Brazil -- After 90 thrilling minutes, there was nothing left but shock, confusion and depression.

The final whistle at Arena Amazonia brought cheers from only the Brazilian locals. Everyone else shuffled out in silence, a stark departure from the singing and chanting that served as the soundtrack for the previous two hours. The only words were hushed, whispered under ragged breath.

On Friday night I encountered a France fan who decided to take a swim in the ocean. With all of his clothes on (glasses and all).

It take a certain level of celebration to get someone to that sort of state, and I hope it was worth it because I found him again on Saturday and he looked horrible.

Bizarrely, ending up in the ocean didn’t faze the man at all. He didn’t bother to take his jersey, scarf or glasses off. He didn’t bother to take his phone or wallet out of his pants. He just kept on walking, deeper and deeper, slowly immersing himself into the sea.

The good news is the man couldn’t keep his balance long enough to make it much more than waist deep. He skipped around, got taken out by waves, then flapped about as though he was swimming, even though his knees were on the seabed and he wasn’t going anywhere. At one point, he turned to face the horizon just as a big wave came in and got hit square in the face. His glasses flew off and washed away.

NATAL, Brazil -- Brazil loves their Selacao, living and dying with their national team, but they also have a clear second favorite team: Portugal.

Portugal’s match against Germany drew large crowds to bars, and after the match TV stations played the highlights ad nauseam. The coverage -- across every media outlet -- was only a step below that of Brazil. At least for Portugual games they at least acknowledged that there were other matches, showing the day’s scores and then delving into hours and hours of Portugal analysis.

NATAL, Brazil -- At every World Cup match, the stadium is filled to the brim with neutral fans. Be they local Brazilians or traveling fans of teams not playing, there are thousands of people in each stadium looking for an excuse to cheer for one team over the other.

On Thursday, Japan put on a clinic on how to woo the neutrals. It was a masterpiece.

NATAL, Brazil -- You would think that the blue trash bags that the Japan fans bring to the stadium are for a tifo, or to keep them dry in the rain, but you would be wrong. The trash bags are so they can clean up after themselves when the match is over.

Seriously.

Is it better for Japan if Colombia win or the Ivory Coast win? The Japanese don’t seem to have clue.

One thing everyone agrees upon is that Greece is not getting out of Group C. That means it’s down to Colombia, Ivory Coast and Japan for two spots, and the Samurai Blue are on the outside looking in after an opening-match loss. That put the Japanese fans in an awkward spot: The Cafeteros and Elephants square off on Matchday 2, and those watching are spending their time fighting among themselves about who they should be hoping to win.

NATAL, Brazil -- Like most tropical places, Brazil sees its fair share of rain. In Natal, it can rain for an hour a day in the summer and in the winter, a day or two of rain every couple weeks is the norm. But days and days of rain is unheard of, and the city can’t handle it.

Natal got hammered by rain at the start of the World Cup, getting a month’s worth of rain in three days. Homes were destroyed, a highway was washed away and significant parts of the city were hit by flooding.

NATAL, Brazil -- We were sitting at the swim-up bar, drinking caipirinhas* when our bartender starting sniffing. He was trying to tell us he smelled something. Seeing as none of us speak Portuguese, we had no idea what he was saying, but we did understand one word. “Cannabis.”

*Brazil’s national cocktail; primarily cachaça with sugar cane and a dash of lime. That it isn’t more popular in the United States is a tragedy.

NATAL, Brazil -- You know when’s the best time to light fireworks? After you’ve been sitting in a bar drinking all day. Nothing says “good idea” like a ton of alcohol, fire and explosives.

Chile knew they had a good team -- one that certainly could have gotten out of their group -- but they expected to have a tough time, especially with Spain involved. Even after the Netherlands smashed the defending World Cup champions, the Chileans thought they would have difficult match against the Spaniards.

NATAL, Brazil -- The Australians could have partied in Rio de Janeiro or Sao Paulo. They could have gone to Brasilia and been in the capital or checked out the areas around Salvador and Recife, which have some of the country’s best beaches. But they were in Natal.

Beer is cheap in Natal.

NATAL, Brazil -- Fast food. The fastest around, in fact; Middle Eastern with a dash of some Brazilian sandwiches. There’s beer too, and you might need it if you stare at the logo too long -- it’s a cartoon man with a giant, creepy smile, and I swear I saw it winking at me more than once. Habib’s is ubiquitous, and the chain occupies the prize position of fast food restaurants: its stores serve tasty enough food for cheaper than Subway.

They’re also apparently the best place in Natal to party.

Their journey was dubbed the AOmazing Race.

They didn’t even come close.