Pat on the day of the big game against Fluminense
The day of the game started extremely early with a 6.30am wake-up. The kick off was at 10.30am, so to allow for traffic, we left at 8am following a very Brazilian breakfast of a bread roll and coffee!The weather was again overcast, but I had no doubt that, come kick-off, the sun would make an appearance as it invariably does when you don’t particularly want it to.
I must admit, even after having a terrible night’s sleep, i was still very much looking forward to the game and keeping my fingers crossed that I’d be playing.
Upon arrival in the dressing room, Tis not only named me in the team but announced that I’d be one of the handful of players to play the full 90 minutes!
With someone turning the thermostat up to full whack outside, i was both excited about playing yet apprehensive about turning in 90 minutes in the heat.
Before kick-off, it was the usual publicity photos, one of which was with our own amazing fans. I really couldn’t believe the sheer amount of fans that made the trip. Absolutely fantastic.
The game itself was thoroughly enjoyable with the Brazilians having their fair share of the ball and looking extremely comfortable in possession as you can imagine, but I actually thought we could have, and should have, won the game with young Matt Jay given a dubious offside against him.
It was a fantastic experience, something I will certainly never forget and one thing i did learn from the Brazilians was how to dive! All joking aside, the game was played very sportingly with two competitive sides trying to win the game fairly.
Afterwards we had a bite to eat that our hosts kindly provided and it gave us and the fans a chance to mingle and chat.
Next up, we were back on the bus and heading to the match between Fluminense and Santos. It was a match that we were all very excited about witnessing.
The game finished 1-0 Fluminense but the best part of it was the popcorn that tasted like cardboard and the atmosphere. It was one big carnival with a samba beat throughout.
Tomorrow is due to be a fairly uneventful day so I will save the story of our journey home from the game for day 5 of my diary because, technically, the drive home spilled into day 5! All I will say is a few of us were made to walk the plank!