White Horse News reporter, Dean Shaw, has joined 10,000 other England fans in Brazil as he cheered on the Three Lions at the World Cup.
Dean talked to the White Horse News from Brazil about the atmosphere, the disappointment over England and about the other matches he’s been to.
“The trip has been fantastic, other than the disappointment of England which was a real shame as I think we were unlucky to lose both the Italy and Uruguay games. I know England were very disappointing but it hasn’t taken away from a great trip.
“Brazil has been amazing and it really is a festival of football with every bar full of football fans from all over the world.
“The whole country really comes alive when Brazil play as police close roads so people can party in the street and watch on big screens.
“I started in São Paulo which is the biggest city in the Southern Hemisphere with about 20 million people living there and it seemed that everywhere you looked was an England fan as thousands descended on the city before the Uruguay game with many travelling without tickets and offering up to £1,000 to see the game.
“The match itself was a huge disappointment with England losing but the atmosphere was electric from start to finish.
“From São Paulo I went to Belo Horizonte which is a much smaller city but the passion for football is just as high. I went to Argentina vs Iran where the atmosphere was better than I have ever experienced with around 40,000 Argentines in the stadium; the noise was deafening throughout and the place erupted when Messi scored a last minute winner.
“Days later England played Costa Rica also in Belo Horizonte where the support from England fans was immense with around 10,000 attending and cheering the team non-stop throughout despite their short comings and it seemed every fan stayed in the stadium for half an hour or more to applaud the team.
“From Belo I return to São Paulo to watch Belgium vs South Korea before I’m heading to Rio for Colombia vs Uruguay.
“It’s been an absolutely fantastic, once in a lifetime trip. From the games I’ve seen and with the home support, you would have to think Brazil are going to win the trophy with Argentina running them very close. But the group stages haven’t finished yet so by the time you’re reading this, things may have changed completely!”
