Postcards From Brazil, Part 7: Ivi's World Cup Adventure

Ivi with some Chilean supporters prior to the match

One of the newest Bowling Green State University women's soccer alumnae, Ivi Casagrande, is enjoying the experience of a lifetime this summer. Casagrande, who recently finished her senior year at BG, is back in her native country, helping with the world's largest sporting event. A native of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, she worked at the 2014 FIFA World Cup with the Australian National Team and their travel party. The Socceroos did not advance past the group stage, but Ivi's World Cup experience continues...

LINKS
PHOTO GALLERY: Ivi Casagrande at the World Cup
Ivi at the World Cup - Previous Updates: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
Tim Cahill's goal for Australia vs. Netherlands (ESPNFC.com)
Brazil 1, Chile 1 (Brazil advances 5-3 on PKs)

June 28
Brazil's game today!!! The day we all have been waiting for. For the first time in this world cup, our city (Belo Horizonte) is hosting our National Team's game against Chile. The search for tickets to the match has been almost an impossible mission. People are selling tickets for almost 1000 dollars or some selling for 2000 dollars, even though the original price they paid was 100 dollars. I was lucky I worked for the Australian Federation and my uncle also working for them got us 3 tickets so we could all go together, me, my dad and my sister. On our way to the stadium, the city stopped working completely just to prepare for the game. Workers got out earlier and we saw only people walking with yellow jerseys on the streets, all excited for the game to start. We parked the car almost 2 km away from the stadium and we started walking with our family. We were so pumped for the game and watching everyone jumping and singing on our way to the stadium was an unforgettable moment. There were a lot of Chile supporters and they were not intimidated by our high numbers of supporters and were singing loud and proud. I can't describe the feelings of being able to experience that moment, where our pride for the country was way bigger than we all expected to be before the World Cup began. The game began and we were all really nervous because we knew that would be a very tough game. The game was tied and we went to penalty kicks. We could see people with their heads down praying, people leaving to the bathrooms because they couldn't handle so much anxiety. Our goalkeeper saved us that day. Our hearts were filled by joy and relief. It was hard to see Chile's supporters leaving the stadium crying and sad that their journey was over. After the game, our downtown was filled with tourists and proud Brazilians that partied all night long. We now start our preparations for the Round of 8 games. Our next game: Brazil x Colombia!

To read Ivi's previous updates, or to view more of the many photos she has passed along, click the links located near the top of this page. And, don't forget to come back to BGSUFalcons.com in the near future for more updates from Ivi!

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Postcards From Brazil, Part 7: Ivi's World Cup Adventure

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