Friday night’s blockbuster match between Brazil and Croatia finally turned out to be a nightmare for Seleção Canarinho fans as Brazil failed to shatter their quarter-final jinx.
My Kolkata was present at Five Mad Men at Salt Lake, Sector V and BJs Sports Lounge on Sarat Bose Road to witness the frenzy.
Pre-match scenario
Around 8pm on Friday night, as football fans were making a beeline for the sports bars in the city to witness the high-octane (Brazil-Croatia) quarter-final match, upbeat Brazil fans were already discussing how they would perform against Argentina in the semi-final!
At Five Mad Men, two groups were seen arguing over the “outcome” of the semi-final assuming that Brazil had already crushed Croatia. Later of course, Argentina beat Netherlands 4-3 on penalties around 3.58am on Saturday (IST) to enter the semi-final.
An Argentina fan flaunts his jersey as the team beat Netherlands to enter the semi-final Five Mad Men
“Unlike Argentina, Brazil hasn’t got a ‘one-God of football concept’, for us (Brazilian fans), all the 11 footballers are Gods and hence Argentina will not stand a chance against Brazil,” roared Soumyajyoti Sarkar, a student and a Brazil fan to Tonmoy Ghosh, a diehard Messi fan.
During the match
As the match started, Brazil fans were confident and kept on underestimating the Croatian defence. “Just before the break during the extra time, when Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior scored a goal, our assumptions turned into reality,” said Sarkar. With the goal, the DJ took to the console to play To Brazil! by Vengaboys and everyone was in ‘sync’ with the music.
At BJs Sports Lounge on Sarat Bose Road, the mood was similar. Saikat Ray and Aheli Sanyal, both Brazil fans, had ordered two extra rounds of non-alcoholic tequila shots to celebrate the goal. “Who knew, in the next 30 minutes, we were heading for a massive heartbreak,” said Saikat.
In the dying moments of the extra time, a deflected strike from Bruno Petkovic took the game to the penalties. Even as Brazil fans were still sure of a win, by 11.30pm, everything was over for them. Croatia had knocked Brazil out of the tournament!
A heartbroken Brazil fan reacts at Five Mad Men after Croatia's win Five Mad Men
Several Argentina fans had also reached the sports bars to see the Argentina-Netherlands match which started at 12.30am (IST) on Saturday. While some fans were relieved that Argentina would not have to face Brazil in the semi-final, others were sad. “I was hoping to witness a Brazil-Argentina semi-final and wanted Messi to finish off Brazil,” said Sanjay Agarwal at Five Mad Men.
Engrossed fans at BJs Sports Lounge with Argentina's national flag Soumyajit Dey
Around 11.35pm, when hugely disappointed Brazil fans were leaving, Soumyajyoti said, “Brazil will turn around in the next World Cup. I am sure. Do you know, Antony Matheus dos Santos grew up in ‘hell’? Yes, It’s true. The slum where he (Antony) was raised is called Inferninho, which literally means ‘hell’ because of the crime rate and violence there. Many Brazilian players share a similar background. They have fought against all odds to reach here and one match cannot define them.”
