978-1-4222-3341-2

5

CHAPTER

Arts and Entertainment

P ele. Ronaldo. Rivaldo. Each is so famous that they don’t even use their last names. They are among the greatest soccer players in history, and each is revered in their home country of Brazil. It’s hard to understand the passion Brazilians place on soccer. It begins early when a child is born. Many fathers will hang the shirt of the team they hope their child will follow on the door of their child’s room. People will often ask family members to drape their coffins with the flag of their favorite team. When the national team plays, the nation shuts down as if it is on a holi- day. When Pele, who is probably the greatest soccer player in Brazil’s history, scored his one thousandth goal in 1969, the news eclipsed reports of humans landing on the moon for only the second time in history.

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CHAPTER FIVE: ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT