Portugal T-shirt, a rare commodity in Brazil
5/7/2006 15:25
Following the World Cup elimination, Brazilian football fans are mostly
supporting the Portuguese team. The demand for Portugal T-shirts, flags and
other articles has significantly increased since Brazils defeat to France on
Saturday July 1, local media said yesterday.
In the past days, street
peddlers in Rio are selling Portugal's flags to drivers stuck in the city's
traffic jams. In Sao Paulo, three major sportswear stores reported the official
Portugal T-shirt, which costs 150 reais (US$ 70), is the best selling item,
ahead of the T-shirts of Brazil and all other local pro football teams.
Two
reasons can explain the popularity of the Portugal team. First, there is the
fact that Luiz Felipe Scolari, a Brazilian, is the head coach of Portugal. Seen
as a spontaneous fellow, Felipao, as he is known in Rio De Janeiro, coached the
Brazilian team in its 2002 World Cup winning.
Additionally, Brazilians have
strong blood and cultural ties with Portugal. For over three centuries, Brazil
was a colony of Portugal and the country's official language is Portuguese. The
migration of the Portuguese to Brazil continued throughout the 20th century and
most of Brazilians have a Portuguese heritage. Since the 1980s, Brazilians have
migrated to Portugal as it joined the European Union and job market conditions
have improved.
As the demand for Portugal's jersey increases, the interest
for the T-shirt of Brazil's national team has dramatically fallen. The
Commercial Association of Rio de Janeiro estimates Rio shops have about 300,000
Brazil T-shirts in stock. For 10 reais a piece, it is a 3 million reais (US$1.4
million) loss just with T-shirt.
Xinhua
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