World Cup 2014: Americans on edge of their seats

SAO PAULO—Actors Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson shared a family photo on Twitter, everybody on the edges of their seats for the US. Some crossed fingers, others clenched fists.

Soccer fans react to a play during a World Cup match between the United States and Belgium being viewed on a large screen television, Tuesday, July 1, 2014, on Fountain Square in downtown Cincinnati. AP

Professional sports teams and athletes from the United States took to Twitter on Tuesday to support the Americans against Belgium, along with some well-known actors like the Hanks family.

Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco 49ers NFL team all posted photos on their Twitter pages featuring photos of their teams on half the screen and the U.S. World Cup squad on the other. Each photo said, “ARE YOU READY?”

The San Diego Chargers’ photo featured a flag covering the football field at Qualcomm Stadium with the words, “Go get ’em!”

Boston Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester posted: “#IBELIEVETHATWEWILLWIN!”

The Seattle Seahawks cheered DeAndre Yedlin with #SeattleLove when the Seattle Sounders player came on in the second half in place of injured right back Fabian Johnson.—Janie McCauley

Train troubles

SAO PAULO—Passengers were briefly walking along the tracks when a train in Sao Paulo broke down Tuesday morning, delaying the start of an express train to Itaquerao Stadium.

The city’s Metropolitan Train Company says an “equipment failure” on the tracks caused a 30-minute delay in the startup of the World Cup Express train that connects downtown to the stadium where Argentina would be playing Switzerland hours later in the World Cup round of 16.

A company official said many passengers walked along the track when the train came to a halt at about 8 a.m. Police and company employees quickly removed the passengers from the track. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

About two hours later, the express train started transporting fans to the stadium.

Waffles for pancakes

SALVADOR, Brazil—In the great tradition of food bets between political leaders, Matthew Barzun, the US ambassador to Britain, has challenged his Belgian counterpart to a friendly wager.

Under the terms proposed in a letter from Barzun: If the Americans win the World Cup round of 16 game between the countries, Guy Trouveroy will cook Belgian waffles for Barzun and his colleagues at the US Embassy. If Belgium wins Tuesday, Barzun will cook American pancakes for the Belgians at their embassy.

Bonjour? Bonjour?

RIBEIRAO PRETO, Brazil—France coach Didier Deschamps had a spot of microphone trouble during his World Cup news conference Tuesday.

First, the sound was too loud, with Deschamps’ booming voice resonating around the Pedro II theater house in Ribeirao Preto, where France holds its media activity. Then, it was far too quiet and he could barely be heard.

“Everything OK, chief? Hello?” a bemused Deschamps said as he turned to the sound technician, who was desperately trying to fix it.

Deschamps carried on talking, but the problem persisted.

“Is he trying to wind me up? They’ve sent the cook instead,” Deschamps joked. “This is a disaster.”

The issue was eventually resolved, and Deschamps was free to talk about Friday’s quarterfinal against Germany.–Jerome Pugmire

All Argentina

SAO PAULO—Every time Pele was shown on the giant video screen, the crowd booed.

More than 20,000 Argentina supporters made the Sao Paulo Fan Fest their own Tuesday for the round of 16 match against Switzerland.

Some wore Lionel Messi masks and white and light blue wigs. Many were shirtless, standing under the sun for hours.

Whenever Pele, the Brazil great attending the game at nearby Itaquerao Stadium, was shown on the screen, they screamed that he has nothing on Argentina legend Diego Maradona.

Thousands of Argentines streamed into Brazil even if they couldn’t afford or obtain tickets.—Adriana Gomez Licon

They believed

SALVADOR, Brazil—Wearing a sparkly Uncle Sam hat and with the Stars and Stripes draped over his shoulders, Brian Fuqua was among the American fans strolling through The Pelourinho, the historic center of Salvador, about six hours before the United States played Belgium in the World Cup on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old from Denver arrived last month before the Americans’ opener against Ghana in Natal to follow the team around Brazil. Despite the tough first-round group that included Portugal and Germany, he bought tickets for the second-round match in Salvador before leaving home.

“I was hopeful and optimistic. I thought maybe we had like a 25 percent, 30 percent chance to get out,” he said. “I like Brazil a lot. I’m actually going home on July 17, and I was going to stay no matter what.”

If the US had finished first in Group H, the Americans would have skipped Salvador and played Algeria on Saturday in Porto Alegre.

“Had they won the group, I would have looked at the cost to get to Porto Alegre,” he said.

American fans in red, white and blue seemed to outnumber red-clad Belgium supporters by about 3 to 1.

Jeremy Rambo, a 27-year-old originally from Laramie, Wyoming, has attended the Americans’ first-round games in the northeast Brazilian cities of Natal and Recife. He bought his first-round tickets on FIFA’s website and Tuesday’s through the American Outlaws supporters group

He plans to stick around for the rest of the tournament.

“If they make it, I might have to go to Brasilia,” he said, looking ahead to a potential quarterfinal.—Ronald Blum

Etched in memory

SANTIAGO, Chile—Tattoos are painful, but this one must have hurt even more.

Chilean striker Mauricio Pinilla recently got his 119th-minute World Cup miss against Brazil etched into his back. Next to the image of his shot slamming off the crossbar, it reads: “One centimeter from glory.”

Pinilla’s tattoo echoes the frustration of most Chileans. Thousands of them jumped up in the stands at Mineirao Stadium—and millions at home—on Saturday in the final moments only to watch Pinilla’s shot hit the bar. The story is well-known by now: Brazil ended up winning, Chile was sent home in tears and the post has quickly turned into a loathed symbol of the country’s 14-year jinx against Brazil.

The two teams had met three times in previous World Cups, with Brazil winning in the 1962 tournament in Chile, then in France 1998 and South Africa 2010.—Luis Andres Henao

Supporting Switzerland

SAO PAULO—The chant resonates throughout the bleachers: “Sui-ca, Sui-ca.”

It’s the Portuguese word for Switzerland, and those cheering on the Swiss in Tuesday’s World Cup round of 16 game are not European fans draped in red but rather dozens of locals dressed in their national team’s traditional yellow. The reason for their newfound affection for the Swiss? Their opponent of the day — hated South American rival Argentina.

“It’s nice. We are a little country and we need all the support we can get,” said Peter Adolf, a 32-year-old fan from Bern, Switzerland. “But we know is it because they hate Argentina.”—Aron Heller

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