An unsuspecting tourist who disembarked in Miami Beach on the morning or afternoon of Wednesday (24) would write down in his notebook: “I’m in Edinburgh”.
He would soon notice the palm trees around him and the thermometers pointing to 93° F, the equivalent of 34° C. But, even in a tropical environment, he wouldn’t confuse it with Rio de Janeiro or Salvador.
At the pre-game party for the duel between Scotland and Brazil in the World Cup, there was Scotland. In the days leading up to the match and during the closing day of Group C, fans dressed in blue, many of them in kilts, dominated Miami’s main tourist attraction.
“You can score more goals; we drink more,” shouted one of the members of the Tartan Army, as the Scottish national team’s army of followers is known. With a glass raised, in one of the bars on the Ocean Drive seafront, he identified himself as McGinn.
It was not clear whether it was his surname or a reference to the main player in the team led by Steve Clarke. The second option seemed the most plausible, but not even when mentioning the midfielder’s name did the happy fan allow himself a more effusive burst of optimism: “A draw is good for everyone, isn’t it?”
There were also, of course, Brazilians, fewer in number and at that point less noisy. Some would watch the game right there, in one of the bars in the region, where the speakers echoed hits by Gusttavo Lima and Anitta. Zeca Baleiro’s “Samba do Approach” was missing: “I got my ‘green card’ and went to Miami Beach; I may not be a ‘pop star’, but I’m already a ‘nouveau riche’.”
“It’s going to be 3-0”, said lawyer Dojiar Gomes dos Santos, 54, who was enjoying the beach before heading to the Hard Rock Stadium. “You can score two goals from Vini and… Neymar won’t play, right? Êndri there… How do you say? Endrick, that’s it. Does he play? He can come on in the second half, right? It could be his third, then”, added the Goian from Anápolis, who is on vacation with his family in the United States.
Closer to the stadium —which is located in Miami Gardens, on the outskirts of Miami—, in a unit of the Hard Rock Cafe, the sponsored members of the Yellow Green Movement made their rehearsed noise. They sang the well-known song “in 58 it was Pelé, in 62 it was Mané, in 70 it was the squad”. The rhyme ends in “the only penta is Brasilzão”.
The media drumming, recorded by the drummers themselves and transmitted on social media, did not have the spontaneity of McGinn, which is probably not McGinn. “Cheers, mate!”, toasted the Scotsman, blushing in the sun, as he waited for the game. “A draw, then, is that it? Great. Cheers! Good game!”
