Rio de Janeiro, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- With less than a day to go before Brazil's World Cup debut in Qatar, Pereira Nunes Street, located in Rio de Janeiro's northern district, has not yet raised money to buy a large viewing screen.
Brazilian fans play on the streets of Pereira Nunes. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Tiancong
On the 24th, the reporter who had planned to come to this "most beautiful street to watch the game" in Rio began to consider alternatives after seeing Mendez's notice on social media on the road, but when he got out of the taxi, he saw that some people at the end of the street were installing large screens. Mendes told reporters: "We raised enough money at the last minute this morning, and the afternoon game has a big screen!" ”
It turned out that many residents of this street saw Mendez's social media messages and transferred money to the "street decoration team", and soon scraped together the final 5,000 reais (about 6,715 yuan) needed - because they all hoped that the street they lived in lived up to the reputation of "the most beautiful street to watch the game".
Young fans on the "most beautiful street to watch". Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Tiancong
Pereira Nunes Street has been decorating the World Cup since the beginning of November. The reporter saw that now there are yellow, green, blue and white streamers floating over the entire street, which is the color of the Brazilian flag, and a Brazilian flag is also dotted a few meters away; On the 150-meter-long ground, the statue of Neymar, the logo of the Brazilian Football Federation, and the little yellow sparrow representing Brazil were painted; There are also murals on the walls such as a caricature of "Ball King" Pele, a slogan "Forward to the Sixth Champion", and fans in various jerseys celebrating the celebration.
So far, Brazil has participated in every World Cup and won five titles. Therefore, it has become a Brazilian tradition to decorate the streets on the doorstep of the World Cup. The tradition of Pereira Nunes Street decorating the streets for the World Cup has continued for 40 years.
Mendes, 44, told reporters: "I remember when I was very young, the street outside my house was beautiful at the World Cup. When I was 8 years old, I first followed my father to paint the street in front of my house, and I have been involved every year since, so it has been a part of my life. This year we have 15 people dedicated to this matter, and more than 50 people are involved in the decoration work. ”
Little fans who come to see the game. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Tiancong
Decorative artist Rodrigo Habibie is responsible for the decoration of the grounds, and he painted 15 decorative paintings of the grounds. He told reporters: "My girlfriend's family lives on this street, and when I learned that they were going to decorate the street, I immediately volunteered to join in. Because this tradition used to be in many places in Rio de Janeiro, but it has become less and less over the years, I am very happy that this street can maintain this tradition. Decorating and watching the ball together also promotes unity among neighbors. ”
"Nowadays, children are more attracted to electronic products and technology products, often play games at home, and rarely play together on the street in front of our homes like we did when we were children," Mendes said. So more and more streets are no longer decorated during the World Cup, but we still want to keep that tradition alive. ”
Fans pose for photos on the street. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Tiancong
The decoration of the entire street costs about 15,000 reais (about 20,145 yuan), and the "street decoration group" will knock on doors to raise money, crowdfunding through social networks, and sometimes at traffic lights at intersections to raise money from passing drivers. Although they may be embarrassed to speak, in order to maintain the reputation of "the most beautiful street to watch the game", many residents have joined the fundraising team.
The decoration is already very perfect, and there is a lack of a large screen, after all, without a large screen, it is not a "watching street". Finally, 4 hours before the start of the game, the large screen began to be installed.
However, the time was too tight, the opening whistle sounded, the large screen was not yet debugged, and only a quarter of the screen had an image display. But the residents did not leave, they stared at the picture in the lower left corner and began to watch the game. After more than 20 minutes, a burst of cheers suddenly broke out. No, it's not the Brazilian team that scores, but the big screen is tuned and you can watch the game in full screen!
Fans gathered in front of the big screen to watch the game and celebrate. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporters Wang Tiancong and Zhao Yan
Of course, Brazil did not disappoint the fans, and two goals from Richarlison in the second half gave Brazil a 2-0 "opener". The joy of victory makes the World Cup atmosphere in this street even stronger.