Brazil Women's Soccer Team Opens Games in Festive Atmosphere
The first contact between athletes and the Brazilian public in a Rio-2016 event was the scene of applause, screams of "Olé" and singing the traditional song "I'm Brazilian, with lots of pride and lots of love", that promises to become a hit in during the Games.
The women's national soccer team beat China 3 to 0 on Wednesday, the 3rd, at Engenhão Stadium and took leadership of Group E - earlier in the same stadium, Sweden defeated South Africa 1 to 0.
The most popular sport in the country was the one to first apply a thermometer to measure the receptivity of the Brazilian fans to the Games competition. And the thermometer measured hot.
With Brazil dominating the game from the start, and a surprising weakness from China, which is only four positions below Brazil in FIFA rankings (8th vs 12th), the fans got motivated and "excited about the game" - more than 27,000 were in attendance.
The first goal took a while, only being scored after 36 minutes in the first half, but Brazil had managed to set up at least four good opportunities before this.
Even after mistakes were made by the team, the crowd, which continued to increase after the game started due to long lines at the entrance to the stadium, never once booed the team lead by coach Oswaldo Alvares, commonly referred to as 'Vadão'.
The players remained on the field for about ten minutes after the game was over, some giving interviews to official TV channels, but many were simply saluting the audience. The first day of Olympic competition for Brazil was a festive one.
Translated by LLOYD HARDER