Museo de Futebol

In São Paulo, while I wasn’t taking pictures of Graffiti, I had the chance to visit the soccer museum they have there. I have to say, it is one of the coolest museums I have ever been in. For starters it is located in Pacaembú Stadium, with part of it taking you underneath the bleachers. When you first enter the museum you come to a path that has smaller goal frames lining it. Each frame represents a World Cup, and each crossbar has the host countries name printed on it and “Why did we win?” or “Why did we lose?”
 

I found the attributions for loss in 1986, and 1998 to be the most interesting. In 86- “Because Maradona, unhappily, was not born in Mato Grosso do sul” for those of you who don’t know Maradona was an Argentine soccer star who most Brasilians are NOT a fan of. In 98- “Because the real Brasilian Futebol ghost is not Uruguayan” After reading about the Cup wins and losses I continued on and came across some wonderful facts that are quite relevant to my field of study. For example did you know in England during the 1966 World Cup coffee was prohibited because the English considered it a stimulant? However, the Brasilians asked why English Tea was not also prohibited, and the subject was said to be dropped there. Somewhere in the middle of the museum I had a chance to play foosball on tables that varied greatly in the configurations of players.

I also got a chance to pop my head into the actual arena.

The museum was filled with all kinds of terms of the game and displays of the development of equipment. These were exciting to me as a sports fanatic and would make a die-hard soccer fan feel as if they found the Holy Grail. I would like to share a few more fun facts about Brasilian Futebol here. The biggest win in Brasilian Futebol history was during the Rio de Janeiro state championship of 1909 Botafogo beat Mangueira 24-0. The most expulsions in a game was 22, when a fight broke out between Botafogo and Portuguesa in a 1954 tournament match. The fastest goal scored in Brasilian Futebol history was in 3.17 seconds, by Fred of América- MG in 2003. Next I’ll talk about the lower level of the museum that has a ton of interactive activities that use projection. They had one game that projected on to the floor. It was similar to air hockey, but it was futebol themed so you blocked and kicked with your feet. They also had an area where you could kick an actual ball at a goal with a projected goalie on the wall and it would tell you the speed of your kick. I did not wait in line for this because a few school groups were in line making it a very long wait. If you enjoy sports at all and find yourself in São Paulo this museum is a must see. It is exciting, interactive, and teaches you about History of the Sport and Brasilian culture as it is tied to the Sport.