Brazil Enjoys Their Visit to Chicago

By Todd McClamroch in News on Sep 10, 2007 7:02PM

Chicagoist felt like Liz Crokin when we shared a room at Fogo de Chao with some of the best footballers (soccer players, whatever your preference) in the world. Chicagoist started off the day enjoying the thoroughly entertaining Clash of Champions between the United States and Brazil at Soldier Field with 45,000 other rabid soccer fans.

After attending the Brazilian practice session on Saturday we wrote that the U.S. needed to be careful not to give up set piece opportunities to Brazil superstar Ronaldinho. Sure enough Ronaldinho thrilled the crowd with a goal and an assist both from set pieces helping Brazil to the 4-2 victory over the United States. The final score betrays how competitive the match was, however. The United States actually led 1-0, and the game was played locked at 1-1 or 2-2 for much of the game. It was not until the 75th minute that Ronaldinho's free kick made its way through the United States wall (looked more like a picket fence) and past Tim Howard giving Brazil the lead for good. The fourth goal came in the 92nd minute on a penalty kick.

After the game, Chicagoist figured we would keep on the Brazilian theme and enjoy dinner at our favorite churrascaria Fogo de Chao. It turns out we were not the only ones with this great idea. The restaurant, filled with fans of both Brazil and the United States, went into a frenzy when a large contingent of the Brazilian National Team arrived to enjoy dinner. The party included fan favorite and UEFA Club Footballer of the Year for 2006-2007, Kaka. Chicagoist snapped the photo above and told Kaka in garbled Portuguese "Beautiful game today" but decided against getting our photo with the star in true Liz Crokin fashion.