It’s time to tune in to samba music

Many fans have painted bright coloured murals to lighten the mood as Brazil collectively looks to their team to show what they have so often done best: take on — and beat — the world at the beautiful game.

Local residents have paid into a special fund to provide the necessary materials to decorate the capital street by street. Cars which stray into the area and block the road, hampering their efforts, are politely asked to pay a few coins for the “noble cause”. And if some drivers are not too keen at first they eventually give in with a fatalistic shrug.

“It’s the World Cup after all,” they say with an air of mock resignation.

Door to door efforts bring in a few more coins to boost the total by a few thousand ’reais’ — one real being worth around 40 US cents. The World Cup is motivation enough — but there is an added attraction. The best decorated street will receive a handsome prize from broadcaster TV Globo, which has bought the exclusive transmission rights in Brazil.

The competition winner will have deserved it. The judges will have to choose between giant frescos, painted up telephone boxes and even concrete creations depicting various caricatures — there’s simply no end to the locals’ creativity. In the working class district of Vila Isabel one of the caricatures shows the coach of the ‘selecao’, Luis “Big Phil” Felipe Scolari clad as a Geisha girl.

Taking their inspiration from the Rio carnival, local people have created statues of players and fans — many of them bearing the colours of host nations South Korea and Japan.