Brasil Tour Write Up
Will writes thus –
It’s now two months since most of us returned, but time musn’t pass without a mention of the Brazil tour in the Peashooter. Seventeen (or was it eighteen?) Cowboys and Cowgirls made out to Sao Paulo, a motley crew that featured representatives from most parts of the club. Most of us stayed for two weeks, although some more adventurous Cowfolk made a longer holiday of it.
The football? Well, our opponents were often superior in terms of touch and control. They were, after all, Brazilian. But they didn’t have it all their own way. A Cowboys team were runners up in a 5-a-side tournament that was held as part of a straight edge festival we attended, we won our beach match with the Rio punks on the Copacabana and we emerged victorious in our final 11-a-side game, against a team of ageing Communists called Red Machine.
But as is the way with these things some of the best moments happened away from the football pitch. Personally, I never imagined that we would end up debating fan culture with academics at Sao Paulo University or supplying backing vocals to a Brazilian punk band’s song they had written about us and ‘freedom through football’. Other Cowfolk will probably have their own unforgettable moments. One that all of us will remember was the Corinthians game we saw at the Maracana, which brought to life every lazy cliché about South American football and its ‘passion’, as well as reminding us what a deeply sanitised, mediated experience the English Premiership is.
Mention must be also be made of our hosts. Danilo, Leandro, Mix and all of the Los Autonomos team worked so hard to make us feel at home and make our stay an enjoyable one. It would be great to reciprocate their hospitality, show them round Easton and set up some kind of UK (or European) tour for them. Let’s hope this is just the start of a long lasting Cowboys-Los Autonomos friendship.
Finally, hats off to Punky and to Jack Daniells, who between them did most of the running round, sorted out the street kids benefits, the T-shirts, all the emailing and organising to make the tour a reality. Without them none of it would have happened and my mind wouldn’t be still somewhere halfway cross the Atlantic.