When Vasco da Gama lost 2-0 to Vitoria in the last round of the Campeonato Brasileiro, they were relegated from the top flight for the first time in their 100-year history. The fans were distraught by the demotion. One supporter took his despair further than everyone else and threatened to jump from the roof of the Estádio São Januário.
The would-be leaper’s suicide bid was foiled by Brazilian police, who dragged him back onto the roof of the stadium. There’s closeup footage of this dramatic moment towards the end of the video.
Kudos to the Vasco fans on the terraces below. Instead of scattering to leave a man-sized concrete landing area, they stretch out banners and flags to break the fall of their compadre. Earlier this year, Palmeiras fans weren’t so quick to react when one of their number was in danger of a plunge.
There were lots of folk making a nuisance of themselves at Stansted this morning. Of course, bad behaviour at airports is nothing new.
This classic Nike campaign was screened during the ‘98 World Cup. The advert features Brazil’s national team and Eric Cantona in his traditional cameo role.
Ten years on, with the ever-present international terrorist threat, attempting a kick-about in the departure lounge is likely to get you shot in the head by a policeman with machine gun - something that’s already a problem for Brazilians in the UK.
My favourite big-budget football ad is still the pitched battle between Portugal and Brazil: Olé! Another cracker is The Cage - directed by Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam.
André Luís snatched a yellow card from a referee earlier this month, but that’s tame compared to his previous form.
The Botafogo defender was sent off during a Campeonato Brasileiro match against Náutico in June. By the time Luís actually left the pitch, he had been arrested, the opposition fans insulted, and his team-mates pepper-sprayed in a scrap with the police.
Luís’s one-digit salute to the Náutico supporters sparked the fighting. The police arrested him for disobeying authority, claiming that he also kicked a plastic bottle into the crowd.
With a one-man advantage for more than 50 minutes, Náutico cruised to an easy 3-0 win.
Last week’s Copa Sudamericana quarterfinal between Brazilian side Botafogo and Estudiantes of Argentina was a bad-tempered affair from start to finish. The angriest man on the pitch was André Luís. Referee Carlos Chandía did nothing to improve the Botafogo defender’s mood when he booked him in the second half.
Grabbing the yellow card prompted his second controversial expulsion of the year.
In June, during a Campeonato Brasileiro match, Luís gestured to Náutico fans as he left the pitch after being sent off. The police intervened and escorted him from the field of play. But only after fighting his Botafogo team-mates! Video coming soon.