Yerba, Zen and a new bunker

  • Ana Maria Pomi
  • India
  • Jul 18, 2014

The little details were often important in the World Cup, even if they sometimes seemed like extravagant whims and fancies - such as the consumption of hundreds of kilos of yerba for making the yerba-mate herbal drink, or placing a Koran in every bedroom…or even building your own hotel from scratch. The most extravagant whim surely belonged to Germany. Dissatisfied with the hotels and training centres on offer in Brazil, the German federation decided to build their own bunker, a mini-town of 15,000 square metres close to Santo Andre, to the south of the State of Bahia. This luxurious Campo Bahia, a paradise by the sea reached by crossing the river by boat, had 14 houses, 60 rooms, a swimming pool, tennis courts, a gymnasium and a pitch with the same kind of grass as at the World Cup stadiums. Meanwhile, Argentina and Uruguay competed to see who could carry off more packets of yerba. The winners were the Uruguayans, who took away 160 kilos of mate - which was just as important for their players as water. Chile’s principal extravagance was not food or drink, but a player: Swedish defender Miiko Albornoz, who has a Chilean father and a Finnish mother and speaks no Spanish at all! Chile also insisted on coming with 10 military policemen, to feel more secure. Algeria had asked for a Koran in each room at their hotel in Sorocaba, in Sao Paulo state. Colombia asked top team Sao Paulo to lend them some players to train with, while Portugal requested a video console in every room - to keep their players entertained. And Japan decided to stay at the Spa Sport Resort, in Sao Paulo state, because of the ‘Zen climate’ the hotel exuded - which is good for Buddhist meditation.

 

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