Brazilians cheer for Portugal in the Finals in front of Argentina

A portuguese futsal selection has Brazilian allies among the fans to win Argentina in the competition for the third place of the Finalissima, which takes place today at Arena Niterói, in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Brazilian families with some kind of bond with Portugal wore red shirts to push the team commanded by coach Jorge Braz, in a match where rivalry with the Argentines also weighs on the choice of supporters.

Among the fans are the 26-year-old twin brothers Luan and Nathan Costa Pereira, both dentists, who inherited from Portuguese maternal grandparents the affection for the country and for the national selection.

“ We always had this affection for Portugal, for my mother's family, and this feeling comes from a child ", told the brothers, who usually accompany the Brazilian and Portuguese teams of football and futsal.

Despite the family connection, the two admitted that Portugal's preference for Argentina is practically tied to the Brazilian rivalry against the South American neighbors.

Also Marcos Farias, 49 years old, took the children of seven and six years to Arena Niterói to keep alive the family's connection with Portugal, where he lived for four years and where three of his children were born.

“ It is basically for them not to forget Portugal, the terrinha ", explained the system analyst, who seeks to preserve cultural ties through music and television content and streaming in Portuguese of Portugal.

The son Pedro, seven years old, debuted today in a futsal match and risked a 2-0 result in favor of the Portuguese team.

The family of Bruno José da Cruz Oliveira, a 45-year-old university professor, and Francine Raul Frais Coutinho dos Santos, from 48, lived in Portugal between September 2023 and August 2024, during a postdoctoral period of both.

The couple took their eight-year-old son Francisco, who attended the Sporting football school in Lisbon during the season when the family lived in the country.

“ We lived next door to Sporting and breathed a lot of that environment, both academic and football ", said Francine, who today cheers for Portugal, although hope to see the Brazilian team win the title later.

“ We also came here today to celebrate an international sporting event, very good ", added Bruno.

According to Paulo Sérgio Cabral Júnior, second sergeant of the Brazilian Navy, the link to Portugal also goes through history, in this case by the formation of the Brazilian military institution itself.

“ We ended up having this direct link with Portugal, our Navy of Brazil with the Navy of Portugal ", said the military, who took the son Pedro Henrique, passionate about football, to the stadium for the first time.

Pedro Henrique's father describes that the boy, who has autism and hyperfocus in football, began to practice futsal a few months ago, accompanies daily results, stories and games of the selections, in a passion that motivated the family to go to the competition.

For the meeting with Argentina, Paulo Sérgio risked a result of 5-2 favorable to Portugal.

The final will be played at the same location at 20:30 (Lisbon time) between Spain and Brazil.