RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Brazil is in a state of collective and anxious celebration as its soccer team takes on Colombia in a World Cup quarter-final match – and scored an early first goal.
The sands of Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach erupted into a Carnivalesque scene when Brazil’s captain Thiago Silva scored just a few minutes into Friday’s match.
Deafening volleys of powerful fireworks ignited over the crowd of 20,000 watching on a giant TV screen. All were wearing Brazil’s iconic canary-colored jersey or Colombia’s own yellow shirt, turning the beach into a sea of gold.
Before the match even started, the crowd was dancing to ear-splitting music pumped out by a DJ at the FIFA Fan Fest watch area on Copacabana beach, fueled by cold beer and anticipation of a classic match.