Stop talking about summer in DC...just stop (USA v POR)

So, normally I'd try to give some kind of recap about the game attended, but given the reports we're reading from back home, it appears a safe bet that anyone reading this blog also watched Sunday night's game. Nearly 25M viewers in the US. Fan-freaking-tastic!

Manaus, though...wow, Manaus. Up to now, must of the games we've been to have been on or near the Brazilian Atlantic coast. Not Manaus. Manaus is way, way, WAY up river in the Amazon jungle region. It's a little over 210 miles from the equator; like Albuquerque to Roswell. We'd spent the night before in Brasilia (more on that later), which felt very like home. It sits at a higher altitude and cools off noticeably after dark (see what I mean about sounding familiar?). Walking out of the airport in Manaus was like walking opening the door and walking into a sauna. Our very gracious host chuckled when we mentioned it, saying that "today is actually a cool day."

The game that night was the brand spanking new Arena Amazônias. The place is gorgeous as you can see from the stadium shot, and, much like Natal, it was full of Americans. But it was hard to enjoy it too much. Walk around the stadium, you're going to sweat. Climb the stairs to your seats, you're going to sweat. Jump up and down cheering, you're going to sweat. Turn your head to follow the game or talk to the folks next to you, you're going to sweat.  Breathe, blink, think, you're going to sweat. When Portugal (and Pretty Boy) jumped out to a quick lead of a just terrible piece of defending by the US, it looked like we might be in for a horribly long night. But amazingly our boys suddenly turned it around and liked like the team we'd all hoped they one day could be. Unlike Natal, the mid-field controlled the game and dictated the pace. It was very encouraging, but still Portugal would break away and scare everyone with the possibility of them jumping out to a 2-0 lead. And then, this happened:

Suddenly, we had a team. Whatever it was that we saw in Natal for 80+ minutes was not present in Manaus. They played like a real team, and completely shut Pretty Boy & Co. down. At least until about the last 45 seconds when we decided to take a picture to commemorate the 2-1 win we were about to post. And, well, roughly 25M of you back home saw what happened then.