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Brazil team returns amid little fanfare
Brazil's players returned from the World Cup in Germany on Monday and there was no adoring crowd nor street parade to greet them.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 10:35 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Rio de Janeiro:
Brazil's players returned from the World Cup in Germany on Monday and there was no adoring crowd nor street parade to greet them. In fact, coach Alberto Parreira escaped out a back door at the airport to avoid fans and the media. Brazil's 1-0 defeat to France in Saturday's quarterfinal left most fans with the feeling of resignation rather than anger. Only a few supporters even bothered to turn up to jeer the squad on its return. "I would have preferred not to have a scored a goal and to have come home a champion. For me, (my goal) didn't do very much," said midfielder Gilberto, who netted in the 3-1 group-stage win over Japan. Gilberto was the only player cheered by fans at the airport and one of the few to talk to the press. Jorge Ganem, a 55-year-old lawyer, said Parreira didn't use his bench more because of contractual obligations to sponsors. "Look what Parreira's done, he had a great bench but he didn't use them because he's beholden to Nike and Puma or whoever," said Ganem. Many younger Brazilians couldn't remember the team coming home before the final. In 1998, fans turned out to celebrate the team - which paraded from the airport throughout the city streets atop a fire truck - despite it losing 3-0 to France in the final. In 2002, the team's return became violent after it beat Germany 2-0 in the final to became champion for an unprecedented fifth time - but fans only became angry at having to wait so long to see the team. (AP)Topics mentioned in this article
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