São Paulo – The Museum of Football, located in São Paulo’s Pacaembu Stadium, has become one of the homes to the 2014 FIFA World Cup, even though it will not host any matches. A few weeks prior to the contest, foreigners and Brazilians alike began turning up in large numbers, driven by the latest trending topic: football. And the museum has prepared a special program for those who want to watch matches on match days, and in the meantime learn about the history of the players, balls, and teams that starred in the 20 World Cup editions that have passed.<\/p>\n
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Apart from a special exhibit on the 20 World Cups, the Museum has prepared a lounge whose theme is the 100th anniversary of the Brazilian national team, with intense artistic and cultural activity. The exhibit, which opened on May 27th, is titled Brasil 20 Copas <\/em>(Brazil 20 Cups), and relies heavily on humour. It features a make-believe history that holds a lot of truth nonetheless, and lists the reasons why Brazil has “won” the 20 World Cups. Well, hasn’t it?<\/p>\n Visitors need to get the joke: in a sort of time tunnel, the year of each Cup is written on the floor, along with the reason for Brazil’s victory – which is often, in fact, the reason for its defeat. One will learn, for instance, that in 1930 the Brazilian team’s problem was cold weather and the fact that the pizzas in Uruguay, where the tournament took place, lacked ketchup. And also that Zagallo had not been born yet. Mário Jorge Lobo Zagallo, a player in the national team rosters that won the Cup in 1958 and 1964, the coach of the winning team in 1970, technical coordinator of the team that won in 1994, and once again the coach in 1998, when Brazil finished second, was only born a year later, in 1931.<\/p>\n The reason for the victory in 1958 (did it really take place)? This time it’s true! Pelé and Garrincha would have defeated the Vikings, Napoleon’s troops and all armies if they had to. Why did Brazil fail to win the Cup in 1982? Because it’s football! In 1986? Because the French team brought Kryptonite stashed in their luggage. Whatever happened in 1994? Goalkeeper Taffarel tried grabbing the ball like a butterfly hunter. In 2006? Thick socks and high heels do not match.<\/p>\n Brazil 20 Cups also includes a shower on a corner where there is no water, but visitors can hear a song sung by Pelé and Elis Regina, another by Romário, among others. Right next to it there is the locker of two Brazilian national team masseurs, Ximbica and Mário Américo, with replicas of vintage jerseys, an original ball, and the utility belt they used to carry.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The exhibition features a bit of the history of the World Cups and the winning countries, in a light, visual language, including pictures of food and beverages. Coffee is one of them, because in 1996, England banned its consumption by World Cup players, since it was considered a stimulant. There are also pictures of beans, jerked beef and guava candy, because that was what Brazilians brought in their suitcases for the 1954 World Cup.<\/p>\n “Football has been spoken of from the perspectives of sociology, humanities and football,” says the architect and Museum of Football CEO Luiz Laurent Bloch, explaining the exhibit’s humour. “But no one had ever said Brazil has won 20 Cups,” he quips. A 12-minute film recounts Brazil’s World Cup history.<\/p>\n The lounge 100 years of Brazilian national team was inaugurated on June 10th and up until August 3rd it will host a widely varied program, including attractions relating to the countries playing the World Cup this year. The schedule includes poetry readings, audiovisual screenings, literary performances, book launches, workshops, educational games, and other activities to celebrate the history of the Brazilian national team. The show is featured in Armando Nogueira Auditorium, which has been adapted for the event. According to Bloch, the venue is still available for other events during the period, in case the interest arises.<\/p>\n As of this Wednesday (11th), the Museum of Football had become a bona fide global arena, with people speaking English and Spanish all over. According to Bloch, the museum has worked in tandem with travel agencies, hotels, tourism guides, the media and the consulates, introducing the venue as an attraction for World Cup tourists. An Arab television channel, Al Jazeera, has even shot a news story there. <\/p>\n In addition to the temporary exhibit on the World Cups and the National Team’s Lounge, the museum itself is an attraction for sports tourists. Those who visit the exhibits usually see the other areas as well. They include photographs of the main Brazilian players projected onto big screens as if they were sculptures, curiosities about different World Cup editions, pictures taken in different years, and novelties such as pebolim and a quick peek into the Pacaembu Stadium.<\/p>\n The Museum of Football belongs to the São Paulo State Secretariat for Culture. Last year, it had 330,000 visitors. According to Bloch, during these pre-World Cup days, foreign visitors have been mostly Latin American. <\/p>\n Service <\/strong> <\/p>\n Brazil 20 Cups Exhibit *Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The venue is hosting an exhibit about the 20 World Cups that jokingly tells of how Brazil has \u2018won\u2019 all of them. Even before the championship has begun, foreigners have turned up to visit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1455,"featured_media":177232,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-48174","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tourism"},"wps_subtitle":"The venue is hosting an exhibit about the 20 World Cups that jokingly tells of how Brazil has \u2018won\u2019 all of them. 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May 27th to September 7th, 2014
At Museu do Futebol – Praça Charles Miller, no number
For additional information go to: http:\/\/museudofutebol.org.br\/en\/<\/p>\n