Décio Sales, a São Paulistano living in Dublin, believes everyone is going to forget about the demonstrations and focus on the games.
“The government? Fuck them, but we—Brazilians, the protestors— need to stop now that it’s time for the World Cup. They can start up again after the Cup. There will be protests when this is done, but it should not be now.”

Décio Sales

Thursday night’s opening ceremony and first match had been at the forefront of everyone’s mind for months, partly due to the global love of footie, but more so because of the reports of grotesque overspending and living conditions in the host country. Yet, fan Fabiane Piana from Brasília says it is no longer the time to focus on social issues. It is the footballers' time, and Fabiane and her peers don’t see the point in calling attention to the government if it means distracting from the games.
“Brazilians need to show the world that Brazil is a great place and show how the people are so friendly,” she says.
“Right now is the time for celebrating.”

Fabiane, pictured left, with a friend.

And Thursday’s celebrations were certainly plentiful. It’s hard to think of protests when the party is fully swinging, and Jhony Lopes and his friends from São Paulo say fans must be allowed to acknowledge both simultaneously. Protests in the back of their minds, they were among the crowd who screamed for a solid three minutes after the first goal against Croatia and cleared more pitchers of beer than any forward could hope to do of goals.

Jhony Lopes, Douglas Andrade, Paulo Lopes and Bruno Rodrigues

In the midst of the party, you almost forgot you were in Dublin, and not Brazil. Ana Cecilia Riberio from North Brazil says that although her and her friends are so far away from home, they do not feel alone because Dublin has such a prosperous Brazilian community. Ana says they are happy wherever they are together, and despite everything, they are happy their home country is hosting the games.
“The population wanted the World Cup. We knew we didn’t have the structures and means to do it, but we wanted it anyway. And it will be so perfect for the country when we win.”

Ana Cecilia Riberio, third from the left

Multiple members of Dublin’s Brazilian community told Hot Press last week they hoped the games would give people to see beyond Brazil’s stereotypes, but the scene at Arena Brasil wasn’t highlighting the small town cultures and corruptions like they hoped it would.
In general, the night gave way to expectations: Pitbull sucked. JLo wore sparkles. Brazil won, and TV crews were too busy to give too much airtime to the protests outside. Had you been living under a rock for the last couple of months, you wouldn’t ever guess that protests, corruption and construction deaths had ushered in this year’s World Cup. The celebrations at Arena Brasil for the first game were joyful.