Why Is Everybody Dancing? Blame It on Rio

Everybody at the World Cup, it seems, has two favorite teams: their own and Brazil. Whether it’s their flashy football or the carnival behind it, Brazilians are the stars.

“French people, especially, always smile and want to talk soccer when I say I’m from Brazil,” said Frida Baranek, a sculptor living in Paris. “They love our team. Everyone does.”

No doubt about that.

France’s authoritative sports newspaper, L’Equipe, devoted a 116-page special-edition magazine to the country that has won four World Cups and shuts down whenever its team plays a game.

Ronaldo, the hot young striker seen as a successor to Pele, appears in ads, on magazine covers, on posters, on T-shirts. So do a handful of his teammates.

Paris is turning over its streets this week for a Brazilian Festival, complete with Chico Buarque and Gilberto Gil. A radio station offers a selection of Ronaldo’s favorite music.

And every time Brazil plays, the stadium is an impromptu party.

A small band of women in string bikinis and glitter who samba through the crowds make the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders seem ready for the convent. Drums and tambourines follow behind.

“Brazil is always a party,” said Henri Michel, the former French coach whose team eliminated Brazil in 1986.

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Soccer’s boss condemned the thugs who have surrounded the World Cup with street violence, saying they were closer to mad bombers than misdirected fans.

FIFA President Joseph “Sepp” Blatter said the attacks on police and local residents outside matches involving teams from England and Germany were appalling reminders that even the world’s biggest sports event can’t escape the world’s ills.

“We have seen the incidents in Marseille and the extremely serious incidents in Lens. They were closer to acts of terrorism than acts of hooliganism,” Blatter said. “This violence is not of football, it is of society as a whole. These people use the World Cup as a launching pad.”

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When T-shirts were spotted in the VIP section of a World Cup match, officials knew something was up.

And that led to the arrest of a World Cup volunteer for allegedly selling about 50 premium tickets, officials said Saturday.

The volunteer for the tournament’s French organizing committee CFO was arrested in the northern border city of Lens where the match took place, the officials said on condition of anonymity.

The man, who was not identified, was among 1,000 volunteers who worked at the stadium.

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Prince Harry has a nice souvenir of England’s victory over Colombia--a team jersey autographed by the players. The 13-year-old prince, who accompanied his father, Prince Charles, to Lens to watch Friday night’s game, met World Cup hero Sir Bobby Charlton and was sent the signed shirt after the game. . . . Despite efforts to open up the attack, scoring was down slightly in the first round from four years ago. The first 48 games produced 126 goals, an average of 2.63 a match. In 1994, the first round--with 36 games--had a 2.71-goals-a-game average.