For Brazil and France Fans, a Day of Agony and Ecstasy

Four years after the Rose Bowl played host to the World Cup finals, Los Angeles got a small taste of soccer mania Sunday as avid fans gathered at sports bars and restaurants to watch the final game of France ’98.

At a French restaurant in Echo Park, a crowd of about 100 French fans leaped and cheered in jubilation as their underdog team beat the defending champs from Brazil, 3-0. The victory earned France its first World Cup title.

And Cecile Maurel was deeply moved.

But she had to stay subdued, even in the midst of the celebrating crowd. Her first concern was her 18-month-old baby, Felix, and she worried that he might become frightened by the fervor at Taix French Restaurant, where the game was displayed on a big-screen TV.

Another concern was her husband, Marcello, a Brazilian who was slumped in his seat and fighting back tears. “It is very emotional,” said Cecile Maurel, 28. “It is great that France won, but my husband is so sad.”

Meanwhile, in Zabumba, a West Los Angeles watering hole for expatriate Brazilians, the fans were much less gloomy--although Brazil lost. Actually, from the action going on in front of the restaurant after the game, it was hard to tell who had won the game.

“Brazilians like to party,” said a semi-dejected Elizabeth Aldrete, co-owner of the restaurant, which traditionally hosts sizable crowds at soccer events. “They say ‘Hmm! We lost. It doesn’t matter.’ ”

“We are still tetracampeao,” said Aldrete, using the Portuguese phrase to take pride in Brazil’s record as the only country to have four world titles.

As Aldrete spoke, throngs of fans took to the streets. They gathered around samba drummers and then broke into an impromptu carnival on Venice Boulevard.

As a precaution, police earlier had closed a section of the boulevard between Midvale and Overland avenues.

As the Brazilian fans danced, waved flags and chanted, police formed blockades and quickly moved to disperse the crowd.

Undaunted by the police presence, the revelers moved to the sidewalks, where they continued to party for a couple more hours. No arrests or injuries were reported.

At one point, a caravan of French fans drove by waving blue, white and red flags and honking their horns.

The caravan drew jeers and some obscene gestures from the Brazilians--but no more.

If Brazilians partied for nothing more than just an excuse to samba, the French reveled in the sweet sensation of victory.

After the game, Bernard Inchauspe, the 63-year-old head waiter at Taix, celebrated with gusto.

He grabbed a cardboard cutout of the Eiffel Tower and held it above his head with both hands. And then he started to shake his hips, like a boyish rock star.

A conga line of jubilant French fans formed behind him, and together they snaked through the crowd--including the 50 Brazilian fans who slumped on their seats like sandbags.

“I feel like crying,” said Marcello Maurel, Cecile’s husband. “I’m trying to keep it away, keep it inside.”

The day had begun with hope on both sides. The crowd had gathered early at Zabumba. By 10 a.m., with the game still two hours away, the restaurant--with a capacity of about 100--was standing room only.

Inside, the hot air was made thick by the smell of beer and the sound of drumbeats. Most fans predicted swift victory by the Brazilian squad, the favorites.

But when France scored two goals in the first half of the game, the mood changed.

Toward the end of the game, as the Spanish-speaking announcer described the hushed silence of Brazil fans in Paris, he could have been talking about the crowd at Zabumba.

In contrast, at Taix, the energy was high throughout. The atmosphere was enough to nearly knock some people off their feet.

“I thought I was going to lose my mind during the NBA playoffs, but this game definitely tops that,” said waitress Carol Luat.