Our second and final FIFA World Cup match took us to wet and humid Recife in the northeastern state of Pernambuco to see if Team USA could advance out of their "Group of Death," otherwise known as Group G. After winning against Ghana and drawing with Portugal, odds were in the United States' favor to advance, however, it wasn't a guarantee.
The morning of the match Recife awoke to torrential rain and flooded streets. To make matters more complicated, the Itaipava Arena Pernamuco stadium is located some 17 kilometers outside the city, in the municipality of São Lourenço da Mata. After trudging through shin-deep puddles to a bus stop were were already soaked. A bus ride to the metro station, train to the end of the line, bus to the middle of nowhere, and a half-mile walk to the stadium in the unrelenting rain and were there! I've never been so happy to have seats in the upper-decks; under cover and out of the rain we actually began to dry off a bit.
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| Wet and happy: #ibelievethatwewillwin |
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| Itaipava Arena Pernambuco: Good luck filling this thing after the World Cup. |
Germany won the match 1-0, but due to the results of the Portugal/Ghana game running concurrently, both teams in front of us advanced to the next round of play. A little strange leaving the venue for the long trek back to Recife with both sets of fans happy with the results.
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| Our entire crew reunited after the match: USA! USA! USA! |
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