Things overheard this morning on my way to the market in Rio de Janeiro:
"...it can't be that way again, it's impossible for there to be another 7 - 1..."
"...but this is a different team, dude, it's not the same Germans from back then..."
"...Neymar has the young guys now..."
Today, Brazil humming with one topic, as the country braces itself for a soccer match of historic proportions. This afternoon, the Brazilian men's soccer team will take on the Germans. At stake: an Olympic gold medal. Also at stake: layers and layers of injured Brazilian national pride needing to heal after an incident simply referred to here as "7 - 1" or "7 x 1".
Back at the 2014 World Cup, Brazil lost in a surreal manner to the German team, 7 goals to 1. The score, combined with the fact that the Brazilians were playing on their home turf, made the astounding defeat cut deep, to the bone.
That incident has haunted Brazil over the past two years, coming up regularly, like an oil spill that was never cleaned and keeps washing up onto the shore. Just a couple nights ago, I was out with some Brazilian friends when a German man started joking with them about 7-1. For him, it seemed to be a crazy memory to laugh about today. But my friends, like many Brazilians, aren't there yet.
The incident stripped out from under Brazil its showiest asset: futebol. It forced Brazilians to ask themselves what it meant to be Brazilian if you weren't very good at soccer. And it began a recalibration process for many Brazilian fans, not unlike what happens after a romantic heartbreak; many Brazilian hearts haven't quite healed from the incident, and may now have difficulty believing 100% in any Brazilian sport at all.
Brazilian sports fans hadn't been hurt that bad since the 1950 World Cup loss to Uruguay at home, in Maracanã stadium. That incident, nicknamed Maracanaço, still ripples in the Brazilian collective conscience more than a half-century later. The 2014 incident (similarly called Mineiraço, after the stadium where the loss happened), ripped open those old wounds and simultaneously left a new generation of Brazilians scarred.
For their part, Brazilians have used humor over the past two years to deal with the embarrassment. "7 x 1" is now Brazilian slang for anything that is humiliating or defeating (though it is not tossed around very casually, as the sting is still there), and the memes here referring to 7 x 1 are innumerable and never-ending.
And over the past two years, many Mineiraço-angered Brazilians shifted their pride and allegiance to the Brazilian women's team, who thrived under the newfound attention and seemed poised to bring home an Olympic gold medal. Their defeat this week left Brazilian fans who had placed their hope in them feeling duped. The Brazilian satire site Sensacionalista even noted yesterday that a study found that the Brazilian women's Olympic team's defeat by Sweden in penalty kicks left Brazil "more sad than 7 x 1."
Today, the word "vengeance" and "revenge" are being used here by the optimists. But many Brazilians fans will be watching the game today bracing themselves for the worst, with a lump in their throat, and 7-1 on their mind.
