Tears rolled down Paulo Gama's face and his girlfriend sobbed in his arms as he stared in disbelief at the video screen on Copacabana beach.
The final whistle had signalled that Brazil — colossus of the football world and favourite to win the World Cup — was eliminated from the tournament in a 2-1 loss to the Netherlands.
Across the famous beach, heads bowed and many of the 20,000 people there crumpled to the white sand. Grandfathers holding babies cried. Brazil's colours of canary yellow and green streaked down faces painted with the national flag.
“It's over. It's over. I cannot believe that it is over,” said Luciano Barreto, using the Brazil jersey to wipe his face.
Heart-crushing
The goal that crushed the hearts of 190 million Brazilian fans came in the 68th minute, when Wesley Sneijder scored with a header following a corner kick.
“Oh, my God! Only a miracle can save us now!” Vera Lucia said to the brilliant blue Brazilian sky seconds later. “Oh Lord, save us!”
A minute after the final result, Lucia gathered her two teenage girls in her arms, hugged them fiercely and wept.
“I cannot find the words. I feel so much frustration, so much anger — but I do not know for whom,” she said. “I'm so disappointed. This was our year!”
The nation has indeed been on a roll. After winning the right to host the 2014 World Cup, last year Rio was awarded the 2016 Summer Olympics. In short, Brazil seemingly has been winning at everything. Until Friday's match, when it lost at the one thing it wins most. But if there is any country emotionally equipped to deal with such a defeat, it is Brazil.
In the Portuguese language there is a word that Brazilians swear cannot be translated: “ saudades ” — to painfully enjoy longing, to recognize and cherish the ache of someone or something that is beyond one's grasp.
Embracing agony
The joy Brazil is known for and with which its teams have always played is the direct result of embracing a long journey through agony. That lovely Brazilian trait was on display on Friday. Twenty minutes after the game ended, samba drummers took the stage on Copacabana beach, their powerful, familiar rhythm soothing a restive crowd.
“Tears may fall today, but the happiness in the Brazilian heart remains,” said Claudia Ressea, as she moved her hips to the beat. “You will see. The world will see. We'll be back in 2014, and the cup will be ours.”
Her seven-year-old son, Henrique Miguel, declared he had something to say. “I'm not sad, I'm happy!” Henrique Miguel insisted in a voice filled with pride. “It was a good game. We played well.
We scored a goal! We just got beat, that's all.”
With that, the boy's mother scooped him up into her arms, gave him a tight squeeze, and continued her dance.
