Day 24 - GAME DAY - Arg v Bel

Just a couple of days left, but we are out of cash, so back up to the shopping mall to hit the ATM. Oh, yeah, this is the view from my hotel window (of the mall).

It is our final day of games and the final game in the stadium - lots of lasts today - our last night in Brazil as well. We head out to casually get to the game early - by the markets and enjoying the fans. It seems like everyone is in Argentina gear - we are a little surprised as there were so many Belgium supporters in Rio.

Inside however, we really the crowd is split more equally - there are tons of Belgium supporters - albeit, some are really Brazilians supporting Belgium against Argentina. Some sections were amazingly divided. The stadium is incredibly loud - loudest we have experienced so far.

Messi! (even though he missed a breakaway, it was cool to see him in a real game)

We got a lot of action on our end, including the goal and celebration.

A good game and a good way to end the cup. But we are sad it is our last game and we have no more games to go to (no one has ever accused us of being good actors).

Cab to another new place - Chopperia Maracana - supposed to be a great place to watch the games. We get there and there is a cover charge - urgh - but we spent $10 on the taxi ride, so $20 for all of us to get in isn't horrible, I guess (besides, Ivan paid ). They did have a lot of screens, but nothing huge. But we were unpleasantly surprised that they continued the Samba music through the game instead of turning on the game sound.

But we were pleasantly surprised that the food was good and we basically got a dedicated screen. It was good to have some fans cheering around us. It was funny to hear a Dutch fan earlier say the Argentina wasn't any good - only scored 1 goal...

The Ticos did a good job - attacking not sitting back - and taking Netherlands to PKs. It was quite unusual to see a Goal Keeper sub just for the PKs, but it paid off. Good cup for the Ticos and probably a just result as the Netherlands did have the best chances/near misses.

We checked out the band for a minute - and at least Ivan and Diana could say that they finally danced in Brazil.

We headed out for a late for dinner, about 10pm on a Saturday night. However, we were shocked that everything was closed nearby. Everything else for the Kebab place/gas station. A fitting last meal in a country that we didn't quite figure out right. It was so "good" that we nearly forgot to take a food photo...