South Africa'10 From A to Z, by Marcelo Duarte

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For those who still didn't came to visit the temporary expo Copas de A a Z (World Cups from A to Z) in the Football Museum, this is an invitation. For those who already came (and, sure, for those who will come), a sugestion: the Blog do Curioso (The Curious Blog - http://guiadoscuriosos.com.br/blog/2010/07/11/a-minha-copa-de-2010-de-a-a-z/), wrote by the curator of the expo himself, Marcelo Duarte.

If, in Copas de A a Z, the entry "L" is "Laranja Mecânica" ("Clockwork Orange"), in Duarte's text it's "Larissa" (Riquelme). In the expo, "R" is "Rituais" ("Rituals"); in the blog, it's "Rolling Stone pé-frio" ("Unlucky Rolling Stone")... and so on. The entry "M" is, inevitably, "Maradona" (a so rich character that would fit an entire "A to Z").

Note, also, that the focus of the text derives from the impressions of the last World Cup; the expo, in its turn, deals with the previous tournaments.

A sample: the entry "P" (that in Copas de A a Z is "Primeira Vez" - "First Time"):

"P - Paul, the Octopus

The mollusk, 2 years and a half old, that lives in the Oberhausen Aquarius, in Germany, was the World Cup oracle. His handlers put, in front of him, two acrilic boxes, each one with a flag of a country. Paul hit Germany's wins against Australia, Ghana, England and Argentina. Also hit the defeats to Servia and Spain. The choose of the champion was broadcasted live by 600 radio and TV stations. Paul didn't disappointed. Quivered Spain and hit it!"

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Welcome, Palestine!

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The girls of the Palestine team at the Numbers & Curiosities room: learning and teaching

The Football Museum hosted, last wednesday, june 30th, a quite special visit: the Palestine Women's Team.

The 24 players are practicing at the Meninos da Vila Training, in the city of Santos (SP). The visit has the support of the Brazilian Federal Government, with Santos Futebol Clube. They will also visit the stadiums of Pacaembu (where the Football Museum is) and Morumbi, and play friendlies against Brazilian teams.

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In fact, World Cups From A to Z

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The World Cup is in the half point of its month, and our Copas de A a Z (World Cups From A to Z), the current temporary expo of the Football Museum, has complete one month opened to the public, that toke part in many ways - like the original anagram below, wrote by Jaime Luiz Stabel:

Apaixonante (Passionate)
Brilhante (Brilliant)
Caprichada (Well done)
Divina (Divine)
Espetacular (Spectacular)
Fantástica (Fantastic)
Genial (Genial)
Honesta (Honest)
Imperdível (Unmissable)
Jóia (Jewerly)
Linda (Beautiful)
Maravilhosa (Marvelous)
Novidade (Novelty)
Ótima (Great)
Perfeita (Perfect)
Querida (Dear)
Rica (Rich)
Simpática (Sympathetic)
Tremenda (Tremendous)
Única (Unique)
Vitoriosa (Winner)
Xaveco (Xebec)
Zelosa (Zealous)
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About Naranjitos and mices

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Zigg and the Where's Willie? room: the "This World is a Ball" Gang

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“Imagine a thin and tall guy, with a hat, a suit and a suitcase. Now suppose that, in this suitcase, you’ll find crayons, painting, paper, a tambourine, a guitar… ok: right here this guy will start to tell tales, singing and painting stories.

Zygg by himself: this text came from the blog of Ivan Zigg, a “carioca” illustrator, writer, musician and actor, and defines pretty well the artist that, with crayons, painting, paper – and maybe a tambourine and a guitar – was the responsible for the illustration of the room W – Onde Está Willie? (Where’s Willie?), the temporary expo inaugurated by the Football Museum on may, 31st, Copas de A a Z (World Cups From A to Z).

Winner of the Jabuti Prize (the greatest Brazilian literature prize) on the category Children Book in 2004, Zigg is the author of more than one hundred books – among them O Segredo, O Elefante Caiu and Só Um Minutinho. His piece De A a Zigg (From A to Zigg) is present in book fairs, schools and cultural spaces in Brazil. If you want to know more about this very multimedia artist, go to his website, at http://blogdozigg.blogspot.com/.

Coming to Copas de A a Z, the visitor will discover the place where Willie, the 1966 WC is present (and also, perhaps, Zakumi’s grandpa). Anyway, the place where Zigg was last may, 31st, was the Football Museum, when the expo was opened. From Rio de Janeiro, where he lives, he conceded this interview to The Ball Blog:

THE BALL BLOG - Where’s Willie?

IVAN ZIGG - I worked one week to hide Willie and now you ask me to tell you easily? Go to the expo!

BB - What’s the meaning of cartoon in education, today? And, in a Museum?

ZIGG - Museum is life. You can’t oblige someone to take two buses to see only frames. The visitor gotta live something unforgettable there: emotion, cheers, art. This exploration and language moisture promoted by the “young” museums is rocking people.

BB - Among the 12 World Cup mascots, which one captured you most? Why?

ZIGG - Naranjito, the out-of-shape orange of Spain’12. He’s the ball itself.

BB - Are the characters – and mascots – disposed under any logic, or they appear randomly?

ZIGG - Randomly. But perhaps in five thousand years someone will discover, there, the secret map of Zigg’s pharaoh tomb, huh?

BB - Where’s Willie? is a room where all the World Cup mascots are among many characters, in the bleachers. How would you name them if they were an organized group of fans?

ZIGG - Well, there are animals, people outside the Earth, flags and different colors… what about “This World is a Ball”?

BB - Imagine a player as a mascot – who, and which one, would be?

ZIGG - Robinho, sure! Take a look at him: there’s nothing more cartoonly! What about a Robinho-mice cycling?

BB - Dunga, the original one, was a cartoon character (Disney Snow White’s Dopey). Is Dunga a very… Dunga?

ZIGG - He’s closer to Grumpy than Dopey, huh? Within a month, after the World Cup, we’ll know.

BB - How could be the mascot of Brazil’14?

BB - I guess he would be "Invisible-Fan". So it will be possible to find him in the next Where’s Willie?!

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Zebras and Œuvres d'art

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If the World Cup will be ours, for the 6th time, nobody nows. If Africa will be the penultimate (there's no World Cup in Oceania yet) continent to be conquered by the Brazilian Team, it's still something nobody knows.

Certain is that, from the next tuesday, June 1st - only 11 days before the opening of the World Cup - the Football Museum will have a new temporary exposition, Copas de A a Z ("World Cups From A to Z"). This expo is a kind of football encyclopedia - or World Cup encyclopedia. With 26 rooms, related to the 26 letters of the alphabet, it will be possible to see "D" of Dribles ("Dribbles"), "F" of Figurinhas ("Stamps"), "G" of Granja ("Chicken Farm"; chickens - when a goalkeeper suffers a goal in an easy lance - are also part of the biggest event in the world football), "M" of Música ("Music") and "Z" of Zebra ("Zebra", the way we, Brazilians, call a score when the weakest team wins). We hope this kind of zebra will not be present - frequently - in Johannesbourg.

Or, if so, we hope with a lot of "O" - of Obras de Arte ("Œuvres d'art")

Below, a brief summary of CAZ rooms:

A

África do Sul (South Africa)

A panel about the first country of the African continent hosting a World Cup.

B

Bola Fora (Ball Out)

Even the greatest cracks stumble in field. Doubt it?

C

Chocolate (Chocolate - Big Scores)

In football, chocolate may have a bitter taste.

D

Dribles (Dribbles)

¡Olé! Or how to drive the opponent crazy...

E

Estilo (Style)

To shine in the field, you may use different hair, uniforms and shoes. Isn't it, Valderrama?

F

Figurinhas (Stamps)

In a time when collecting stamps became a fever, again... only in an album you would find two Maradonas or Pelés, huh?

G

Granja (Chicken Farm)

Mr. Goalkeeper, what a pity... and how many feathers...

If the door remains unlocked, a chicken may escape... or, in this case, enter.

H

Dar um agá (Ripping off)

"Dar um agá" (to rip off) isn't in dictionaries, but every goalkeeper knows what it is. Hand touching, saint-like face... every resource is used to deceive the referees. Even in a World Cup - using human and D10S hands...

I

Inimigos (Enemies)

When football is much more than a game... with countries changing rivalry into field (and even real!) wars!

J

Jardim Irene (Irene Garden)

Now everybody knows: a world champion was born here!

K

Kuwait

Sheik Fahid Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah: a powerful man!

L

Laranja Mecânica (Clockwork Orange)

A tactical scheme that squeezed the opponents.

M

Música (Music)

The soundtracks of the World Cups.

N

Números (Numbers)

For the statistics lovers.

O

Obras de Arte (Œuvres d'art )

La donna è mobiiiileee...

Sometimes football looks just like an opera - or an orchestra. The most beautiful goals of the history of the World Cups must, sure, be in a museum.

P

Primeira Vez (First Time)

People say we never forget it. But it's always good to remember.

Q

Quase (Almost)

Two Pelé's lances that didn't entered in the goal - but it was just a detail.

R

Rituais (Rituals)

When the faith of players and fans drives football...

S

Sofrimento (Suffering)

The defeat's pain is also a part of history.

T

Torcedor (Fans)

Hey! It's you!

U

Uniformes (Uniforms)

When players give their blood to their national side mantles.

V

Vitória (Victory)

Paulo Machado de Carvalho, the Marechal da Vitória (Marshall's Victory): for him, winning was common.

W

Willie e as Mascotes (Willie and the Pets)

Zakumi is the latest of a series of funny characters that will be forever remembered in the World Cups imaginary. Willie, in 1966, was the first, in a time when England was in love for The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

X

Xadrez (Chess)

Anyway... who never compared a football field to a chess table? Assembling winning teams is a work for strategists.

Y

Yashin

The URSS legendary Black Spider, of the World Cups of 1958, 1962, 1966 and 1970... a goalkeeper with only two hands would never make so many saves.

Z

Zebra (Zebra)

Unexpected scores come in black and white stripes... will it appear in the World Cup, this year?

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Never before, in the history of this country

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Audience in the Armando Nogueira Theater, at the Football Museum: first steps

Flavio de Campos, Leonardo Pereira, Antonio Jorge Soares, Arlei Sander Dano and Simoni Guedes, in the debate Society and Identities: different approaches

DaMatta in the inauguration class: football, society and societies

The inauguration class: audience from 17 states

As soon as Neil Armstrong touched, for the first time with his right foot, the sandy floor of the Moon, july 21st, 1969, he said one of the most famous quotes ever: "a small step for a man, a gian leap for mankind".

This event has no link with the 1st Symposium of Football Studies. Or almost none: the duality of the meaning of Armstrong's step is, in a certain sense, present in this event, last week, from may 10th to may 14th, at the Football Museum, at USP (University of São Paulo) and PUC-SP (Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo ). Small-big steps.

This first Simposyum inaugurates a new moment for the studies of football in Brazil. Close to South Africa'10, and already in the countdown to the second World Cup in Brazil, the Symposium joined about 200 works, an expressive figure that perhaps will grow more and more, due to the coming events - but, above all, to the Symposium itself, and its pioneerism.

The inaugural class, by the antropologist Roberto DaMatta, in the Theater of the Faculty of History of FFLCH-USP (Faculty of Philosophy, Literature and Human Sciences), was followed by debates, coordinated sessions and individual speeches, with a lot of themes, from group of organized fans 'till football and body expressions, passing through football-art and the footballer career.

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There is, perhaps, another common point between Armstrong's pasito (present in the World Cups room, one of the main rooms of the Football Museum) and the Symposium: in the middle point of both you'll find feet, stepping the natural satellite, or kicking the ball, an artificial satellite that goes around, more and more, the Earth.

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About encyclopedias, enhancers and pasitos

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Just like Aurélio in dictionaries, Nilton Santos became the owner of an expression, when we think about football: encyclopedia.

The mozartian style of the Botafogo defender (some people say it's similar to Santos Football Club' Paulo Henrique Ganso) was one of the first references, in Brazil, between art and football. Nilton was an opera character even when he made his "pasito" in Chile'62, against Spain. "Pasito" is an exclusive expression of Nilton Santos "Encyclopedia".

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The Football Museum will present, soon, a new football encyclopedia - or a new World Cups Encyclopedia, in which Nilton is part of the enhancer "H" - when he stepped a little outside the big area, he deceived ("deu um H", in Portuguese) the Chilean referee Salvador Bustamante. "H" is one of the 26 rooms of the new temporary expo of the Football Museum, named "Copas de A a Z" ("World Cups from A to Z"), that shall be inaugurated in the end of May. "A" of África do Sul (South Africa), "C" of chocolate (big scores have always a good taste), "E" of estilo (style), "O" of obras de arte (masterpieces) et cetera. The 26 letters of the alphabet, 26 different angles to watch the greatest global event.

The visitors (of the enchancer "T" - torcedor/fan) will identify themselves with the enhancer "S", of sofrimento (suffering). And a lot of "R", of rituais (rituals) will be needed to resolve this.

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The flame that never goes out

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The iate column, in O Estado de S.Paulo: football and poetry.

What a pity.

In this monday, mars 29th, disembodied one of the greatest journalists (and specialists on football history) that Brazil ever had. And that gives us the honour of having his name in the auditorium of this museum.

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Armando Nogueira, 83, died, less than three months to another World Cup. He was present in all, since 1950, and would watch one more. Even absent, he would contemplate, perhaps, a symphony of Messi or Robinho. But he won't - not in this Earth. Armando will watch the World Cup in heaven, besides his old friend Garrincha. And was about Garrincha one of the most famous Nogueira's sentences: that, for him, a bit of field was a landlordism.

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One of his books was A Chama que Não se Apaga (The Flame That Never Goes Out, 2000). There's nothing better to define him.

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Contrabassoons - and comets in the horizon

.In the periodicos deportivos, the hat-trick: upline

As occours in every World Cup (in the post-war, it didn't happened only in 1962) in the final stretch until the tournament, the biorhythm lines start their curves. Usually, the favourite starts a downline, that will cross, in the midway, with an irresistibly upward line of non-favorites in the sportsbook.

This hustle seems already started. As in 1998 and 2006 (and not in 1994 and 2006), the Brazilian Team arrives as favourite - just like Mendes de Moraes, Rio de Janeiro's mayor in 1950, before the Brazil and Uruguay, the final match - "our part is done - now, do you".

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There's no downline in Dunga's team - what occours, for now, is the almost general fail of all players in their clubs. Even Kaká, almost German in his style and perfeccionism, is struggling in Madrid. Robinho, Adriano (and why not, Ronaldo) went into exile (¿?) in Brazil. Even Luiz Fabiano, lately a violin in C major, has experienced days of contrabassoon in B flat - his Sevilla was eliminated of the Champions. About Ronaldinho Gaúcho, well... the explanation for his absence is a little more complicated.

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Withal, the contrary seems to be happening in Argentina - after the fantastic triumph in Munich against the hosts, the Albiceleste's basis has been performing recitals across Europe. The last was in Spain, when Messi and Higuán scored, in Barcelona and Madrid, tripletas - or hat-tricks - ususual in a final stretch for a World Cup that, in the horizon, is already visible. And, there, a comet is coming.

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(Just like) Starting over

.The original, and the version: start - and finish - in Germany
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Germany was the starting point - and finishing -, for two of those groups for who God pointed and didn't said "go, be gauche in life". He said, more probably, "go - and write your names in History".

One came from Liverpool, calling at Hamburg, coming back to England and after to the United States, and so on, forever - giving, even, their names to true stars in sky. The another, from many points in Brazil. Almost all went to Europe (none exactly to Hamburg, though some to German cities; some even passed by Liverpool).

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One of the most famous phrases by John Lennon made some liverpoolians upset: he used to say that he was grown in Hamburg, not in Liverpool. It makes sense - The Beatles were formed in the port city, but became a very band, a musicians groups, indeed, in the German city, playing all night long, non-stop, until exhaustion. In the case of the Brazilian Team, in the WC'06, it arrived in Germany when almost all players had left behind their "Hamburgs", their clubs and troubles in the beginning of their carreers. The iminent consacration would be the conquest of that tournament, considered almost unavoidable even by the adversaries.

The Beatlemania - specially what ensued after the first step of one of the Fab Four in the JFK Airport, in New York - was the fuse of the biggest pop phenomenom ever; what cames after, if it's not literally a copy, has something of. The very Beatlemania launched over the four (just like the players of the "Seleção", decades after) humble English guys a celebrity (and wealthy) to which they coped well with for a lot of time - until the Seventies, a certain general disbelief, the oil crisis and Lennon writing, in God, that "the dream is over". The "Beatlemania" with the Brazilian Team in 2006 - not exactly in Germany, but in the Swiss city of Weggis, totally, thought, incorpored to the event in the neighbour Germania - had reverse effect. From the early Rock and Roll Music, it went to Help!, to finally finish with the same "the dream is over", from God. The scene of the groupie, hallucinated, rolling over Ronaldinho Gaúcho, during a coaching, gives a notion of this revisited version of the youth fever of the Sixties.

One of the last Lennon's songs, the beautiful Starting Over, talks about restart: "we have grown". We hope so.
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