For a soccer fanatic like me, visiting Maracana is a dream come true!! This is the stadium where the beautiful, artistic and spectacular Brazilian soccer was put on display by numerous Brazilian national teams and by unmatched soccer stars like Pele, Didi, Vava and Garrincha, not to forget Tostao and Zico!! Just too much talent for a single country whose national passe time is soccer.. Brazil is the only country in the world to win 5 world cups in soccer, 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002!!
Maracana was built 1950 and the final of the first post-war World Cup was played in Maracana in front of 204,000 fans!! Yes it it is not a typo it is two hundred thousand four!! Brazil was the heavy favorite to win that match but Uruguay shocked the world and broke the hearts of millions of Brazilians by winning the game and hence the cup in Maracana in 1950!! There are more stories about this famous stadium and in 2016, Maracana will serve as the venue for the Rio Olympics opening and closing ceremonies and other Olympic events..
Here are some pictures I took today...
The Maracana model
The statue of Garrincha
Prominent Zico
The legendary Pele
In the Maracana press box answering questions from ghosts
Maracana hallways leading to team locker rooms
Players' entrance to the stadium
Sideline benches
A view of the stands
More stands
Payers' restrooms with jacozi tubs at the very back
Players lockers with my current 3 favorite players...
