Brazilians in New York City Celebrate Kick-Off of 2014 World Cup
The Favela Grill in Astoria, Queens, New York, was hopping with World Cup fever Thursday as Brazilian fans from around the city gathered there to celebrate their team's start to the quadrennial tournament in their home nation.
"Being here with these guys, everyone Brazilian, it's so great," said Joel Barsky, who came to the Favela Grill with his father to watch the 2014 World Cup opening game between Brazil and Croatia.
The World Cup is being hosted in the soccer-crazed nation of Brazil as fans of the A Seleção from all over the world celebrate the legacy of their five World Cup championships(1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, and 2002) - the most for any country who has participated in the tournament.
For Barsky, who was in Brazil for last year's Confederations Cup -- considered a dress rehearsal for the World Cup -- watching the opening game in a location like the Favela Grill is a bonding experience that allows him to stay connected with his family and his soccer roots.
"We trying to look around because Queens has a lot of Brazilians," said Barsky, who chose to watch the game with his family, though his soccer-playing buddies would also get together for the game. "There's also Rio Bonito, which is pretty close by, and it's like a little market, but they are putting a TV, so there will be a lot of Brazilians there. So we'll keep looking around, invite a bunch of people over and have one big day."
The Favela Grill showed the ESPN Brazil telecast over the flagship station's English broadcast or Univision's Spanish-language coverage, adding a flavor of home to go with the aroma of bife à palito--beef with onions-- and bolinha de queijo, or breaded fried cheese, that filled the air for the packed house that filled up pretty quickly as the match approached.
"No one is working in Brazil right now," said a patron who would only identify herself as Tomaini, who is from Brazil and spent the last three years in New York City. "Everything is closed. You can just walk down the streets and everything is deserted, and everyone is just together with their friends and family. It's awesome."
While the packed bar was stunned silent after Brazilian left-back Marcelo put the ball behind his own net to give Croatia a 1-0 lead 11 minutes into the match, Neymar lifted the crowd's spirits back up after tying the game up at the the 29th minute of the game, blasting a shot outside the box just past Croatian keeper Stipe Pletikosa to tie the game, 1-1.
Neymar would again have the crowd on their feet - both at Arena Corinthians in São Paulo and at the Queens, New York bar - when he put the Pentacampeões up 2-0 after a controversial penalty shot awarded by referee Yuichi Nishimura, giving Croatian defender Dejan Lovren a yellow card for tossing Brazilian forward Fred to the ground in the box.
Brazil's midfielder Oscar put the game out of reaching, breaking past two defenders to put the ball past Pletikosa in the 91st minute, leaving the crowd in a festive mood to start off the tournament.
Another patron of the restaurant, who only identified himself as Henry, proudly celebrated Brazil's win over Croatia--and he wasn't even from Brazil.
"My family is Colombian but I feel Brazilian," said "This is a melting pot. It's very good here. New York has got everything."
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