When Brazil plays, it's time to walk pooch

Not everybody in soccer-mad nation is caught up in Cup celebrations

While millions of Brazilians were watching their World Cup team on television, Rene Rivera was walking his golden retriever along a swan lake at a Sao Paulo park.

Believe it or not, it is possible to find people in this soccer-mad nation who would rather walk their dog than see Neymar and company, even when Brazil is playing a key game against Mexico.

For the silent minority, game time is the best time to go out for a stroll, jog or ride bikes, given that the usually congested roads of the mega-city are eerily empty when the Selecao is playing.

"We don't like the World Cup. There are better things to do," Rivera said, wearing workout clothes as he and his wife walked Sammy during Tuesday's game.

But he said the sentiment is not a popular one.

"At our gym for instance, if you say you won't watch a game, it's like you're from another planet, abnormal. People say, 'What? You're not cheering for Brazil? What? You're not Brazilian?'" he said.

Rivera, the 41-year-old owner of a software company, is a big fan of the local Corinthians soccer club, but like many Brazilians he is unhappy about the money spent on hosting the tournament.

Brazil was hit by massive protests during last year's Confederations Cup, a World Cup dress rehearsal.

While the movement has subsided, many Brazilians still fume that the money would be better spent on hospitals and schools.

"This particular World Cup is political, it's an event to win votes and to be re-elected," Rivera said, referring to President Dilma Rousseff's bid for a new term in October elections.

"The quicker the World Cup ends, that Brazil is eliminated and it's over, the better the country will be. The people need things other than soccer," he said.

For now, however, the World Cup serves his traffic needs. Ten minutes before the Brazil-Mexico game was to end, he planned to drive home through blissfully empty streets.

'TV doesn't educate'

Simone Rossetti, a 40-year-old hairdresser, was walking her two Shih Tzus, Momo and Appa, in Ibirapuera Park with her daughter and husband as fireworks exploded in the distance, signaling halftime.

"I don't like soccer," she said, pointing toward her two panting dogs. "I came out because they become agitated with the fireworks."

Near the park's Afro-Brazilian Museum, which was closed for the game, a dozen teenagers rode their skateboards under a covered walkway. A couple even wore Brazil's yellow jersey.

Julio Cesar Tadeu Gamboa, a 20-year-old psychology student, said skating on game day was his way of protesting, though his discontent was aimed at the way television covered anti-Cup protests.

"Television doesn't educate, television doesn't make Brazilians think," said Gamboa, whose earlobes were extended by see-through rings the size of golf balls.

Fernanda Vollet, 29, was watching swans with her husband from a footbridge over the lake, soaking in the sunny, traffic-less afternoon.

While the civil engineer said letting people leave work early was likely bad for the economy, she said Brazilian bosses had no other choice but to let their workers go home or to the bars.

"If people were at work, they would be less productive, and Brazilians would find a way to watch the game anyway," she said as Brazil played Mexico to a 0-0 draw.

She admitted, however, she might make an exception in her no-soccer routine.

"If Brazil reaches the final, I'll watch," she said. "Plus it's on a weekend."