Palmeiras celebrate and throw beer in the air, but some don’t even see the game

Salesperson Djalma Manuel Castilho, 38, did not see Raphael Veiga’s goal. Just heard that it had happened. Without a mask (like everyone else) and shirt, he screamed and hugged whoever was next to him. It was as if everything had happened before his eyes.

After a few seconds, he craned his neck to try to see the replay of the cross kick at the end of the first half. The move that paved the way for Palmeiras to win.

“What a great goal, boy!”, he said, even without having seen the move clearly. The TV was 20 meters away and there were dozens of heads in front of him, which got in his way.

With the 2-0 victory over Al Ahly, the Brazilian team qualified for the Club World Cup final. On Saturday, at 1:30 pm (GMT), he will face the winner of the clash between Chelsea (ING) and Al Hilal (ARS), who will play this Wednesday (9).

“It’s okay. I didn’t come here to see the match. I came just to be here,” he added.

He wasn’t the only one. Thousands of people from Palmeiras gave up watching the semifinal, broadcast on open TV, to gather in the Allianz Parque region. The main meeting point was on the corner of Palestra Italia and Caribes streets.

They jostled each other in the street, vying for every inch of space in front of bars or stores that had television sets. The only screen, which was not that big, was placed on the front of the Porcolândia 1914 store.

While the semifinal took place, the battery of Mancha Verde continued to drum and play war chants. Some with their backs to the screen.

“If a goal is scored, I can tell from the shouts of the people. Just being here makes my heart flutter”, says street vendor Kleber Kakimoto, 41, who for a year has carried a styrofoam filled with beer to the streets near the arena when there are games.

This Tuesday was such a day, but 12,000 kilometers away. They took to the streets as if they were in the United Arab Emirates. They sang all the most popular bleacher songs. They cursed. The substitutes applauded. They shouted in unison “Deyvinho!” when Deyverson, the hero of the Libertadores title, entered.

Vendors offered turbans in green and white at R$20 and champion sashes at R$15. While the fans stretched their necks and even jumped trying to overcome the distance from the TV, the sun that hit their faces and those in front, the merchants offered the products.

Even among the non-Palmeirenses street vendors, the hope was for the Brazilian victory. There is the certainty that this Saturday the movement will be much bigger.

The fans in Perdizes, a neighborhood on the west side of São Paulo, where the club’s headquarters are located, only relaxed when Dudu scored the second goal. Those who had difficulty seeing the match, but made an effort, accepted the restrictions better. Those who couldn’t watch, gave up altogether and preferred to drink and celebrate.

Soon everyone else did the same. The final whistle was enough. Liters and gallons of beer were thrown into the air.

“I wanted to be here to celebrate the victory. It happened. Now we’re going to the final. I’ll see the goals later on YouTube,” shrugged Wesley, 22, an administrative assistant. He didn’t want to give his last name because he had told the boss he needed to leave to go to the doctor and went to Palestra Italia Street.

“My boss is from Palmeiras too. But I didn’t want to see the game at the office. I’d rather come here”, he added and laughed when reminded that he didn’t see the game very well.

“Yeah… Coming here and not seeing it.”

There were those who said that being with other Palmeirenses so close to the stadium would serve to reduce a tension that until then was undisguised. The alviverdes on social networks made a joke with Abel Ferreira’s phrase that “cold head and warm heart” was needed. They wrote that they had a cold head, a hot heart and a loose bowels.

It was the team’s first victory in the history of the tournament. That’s if you, like FIFA, don’t consider the 1951 Copa Rio. For Palmeiras, it’s a World Cup. In 1999, the club lost to Manchester United (ING) in the old intercontinental format. Last year, he fell in the semifinals against Tigres (MEX) and was defeated in the dispute for third place by the same Al Ahly.