Joy of Their Game Isn’t Lost on Anyone

There is soccer and then there’s the Brazil Experience.

Combine the world’s best players with the most fun-loving fans and you get something that just can’t be found anywhere else, not even elsewhere in the World Cup.

Fresh off the underdog United States’ hard-fought draw with Italy, I came to see how the other half lives, to spend a day in the presence of soccer royalty. Sunday I squeezed into the last available airspace on a subway car and joined the throng heading out to Munich’s World Cup stadium, the stadium with the puffy white exterior that makes me wonder if part of the Michelin Man is missing.

How hot a ticket is Brazil? On Sunday one fan stood outside the stadium holding signs promising to exchange a wife, husband or sister for a ticket.

As the best team in the world’s preferred sport, Brazil is like the New York Yankees, the Dallas Cowboys and the Lakers rolled into one. The German media give them coverage almost equaling the home team, showing shots of the Brazilians at practice, going to and from the hotel, and obsessing over the always-mysterious status of Ronaldo.

They have the success and the hype, but the one thing that’s missing is the backlash. The Brazilians have won five World Cups -- two more than anyone else -- and they’re expected to win this one. And yet, aside from neighboring Argentina, there are no haters. As John Lanchester wrote for National Geographic, Brazil is “the only favorite that’s a favorite.”

That’s why you can’t assume that person in the bright yellow jersey is Brazilian. He or she might be a German making the hottest fashion statement in the country right now: Brazilian attire.

Daniel and Anja Haisermann are a couple from Lindenberg, Germany. As they walked to their seats at the stadium Sunday he wore a white Germany jersey and she wore a Brazil shirt with a Brazil scarf over her head. She’s not a huge Brazil fan, she just likes the attitude the country projects.

“It’s like a summer feel,” she said.

And how does her husband feel about her clothing choice?

“I don’t have a problem with it,” Daniel said.

He said he’d be rooting for Brazil in the match, just like many of his countrymen.

“We all hope for the final it’s Brazil versus Germany,” he said.

There were more of these mixed allegiances all over the stadium. A woman wearing an Italy shirt with a Brazilian flag tied around her waist. A man with a Brazil shirt carrying an American flag.

It’s as if there’s a special exemption for fan bigamy, as long as the second wife is Brazil.

It’s not that the Brazilians need more support. They sing, dance, beat drums and tambourines. On Sunday, 90 minutes before game time, they filled the main-level concourse, the samba sounds reverberating off the low ceilings.

Brazilians Cynthia Bloch and her friend Leticia Marva were standing next to me, and Bloch provided translation ... where it was appropriate.

“Too many swear words,” she said when I first asked.

She cleaned it up for me: “Who is in charge in this stadium? The Brazilians!”

Someone grabbed Bloch’s hand and the ladies were off in an instant conga line. A Brazilian guy tapped my shoulder.

“Carnival in Munich,” he said.

Bloch and friend returned to provide more translation. The Brazilians were making up songs on the spot.

“Australians, don’t mess with me. I’ve never seen a kangaroo play soccer.”

Bloch assured me that rhymed in Portuguese.

Then they broke into one of their standard chants. “Eu sou Brasileiro/Com muito orgulho/Com muito amor.”

Meaning: “I am Brazilian, with lots of pride and lots of love.”

One of the reasons the Brazilians are beloved is, for all of their self-infatuation, they don’t make others feel excluded. One Brazilian pointed to the head of an Australian fan seated a row ahead of him and offered to exchange his Brazil cap for the Aussie’s cap. They clasped hands and sealed the deal. All over the stadium, groups of fans in slightly different shades of yellow gathered for pictures.

Another reason the soccer world reveres the Brazilians is because they play soccer the way everyone else wishes they could. The Brazilian style elevates the game, but it also makes it better for their opponents.

The Brazilians zoom around in their Ferrari with the top down. But then they step away and leave the keys in the ignition, almost inviting you to take a spin yourself.

The best thing about the Brazilians is they don’t use a one-goal lead to turn the rest of the game into keep-away. On Sunday, after Adriano scored to give Brazil the lead against Australia, the Brazilians kept attacking. That gave Australia its own chances, which the Socceroos couldn’t convert, sending them to a 2-0 defeat.

Auriliana Bailoni, a Brazilian living in England, said he loves his team, “Because every time they play it’s like a dance. They’re dancing. Always when they play, they’re trying to show everybody to play football is easy.”

Even with a couple of tighter-than-expected games, the Brazilians have won both to clinch a spot in the second round. For most fans that would be a cue to start the party. For the Brazilians, it just continued.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read more by Adande, go to latimes.com/adandeblog.