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EIGHT GOAL FEAST TO CELEBRATE THE REOPENING OF THE MARACANA By Doug Banks Over 43000 people witnessed a true classic to celebrate the reopening of the Maracana on the 22nd Jan 2006. An exhilarating local derby saw Botafogo line up against Vasco. An 8 goal feast seeing Botafogo run out eventual winners 5-3. All this despite Vascos hero Romario scoring a delightful hat-trick, who celebrated his 40th birthday this Sunday. The Maracana had been closed for the last 9 months for a much needed face lift to spruce up the ageing spiritual home of Brazilian football for the Pan American games. Only the upper tier had been opened for the match, but this did nothing to dampen spirits inside the ground. The chants of rival fans resonated through the ground back and forth, as the match build up commenced. The rule of one person per seat firmly thrown out the window, as in some areas 3 or 4 people per seat crammed into the more desirable areas to soak up the atmosphere. Even 15 minutes before kickoff, virtually everyone in the ground was standing in anticipation. Standing on seats, jumping up and down to the rhythm of the hypnotic beats, reeling off the repertoire of die hard club chants. It took just 4 mins of open play before Ze Roberto steered one home for Botafogo. Vasco looked ragged, tired in the searing 37C heat and lacking shape at the back. Botafogo using the wide pitch at the Maracana to expose this Vasco weakness. Things were made seemingly worse when Ygor was sent off in the 37th minute for a second bookable offence reducing Vasco to 10 men. The half time whistle couldn't come soon enough. The second half proved to have a completely different complexion. Vasco with extremely vocal support seem to rise to their fans after the break, and again in the 4th minute of play Alex Dias dashed down the wing to cross perfectly to the unmarked Romario at the back post to slot in Vascos 1st. An even playing field was restored when Botafogos Thiago carelessly brought down Morais earning him a red card. 10 man parity was restored and the game was on! A Bainxinho effort in the 65th minute was stopped with an Asprilla arm, sending the Vasco crowd into delirium as the referee pointed to the spot. Romario calmly side footed the ball into the corner with deft ease. 2-1 Vasco. The celebrations were short lived as events were again mirrored at the other end. 69th minute Wagner Diniz brought down Bill on the edge of the box. Penalty Botafogo. Lucia Flavio dispatched the penalty sending the keeper the wrong way. 2-2. The 10 vs 10 and the acres of space down the wings, along with tiring legs ensured that the rest of the match was open, full of attacking play. Just 2 minutes later a Reinaldo header put Botafogo 3-2 up silencing the Vasco end. However, just 90 seconds later, the ever reliable Romario popped up to lash home his 3rd of the game, to once again send the Vasco faithful into a fevered dance. Some slick moves seeing Lucio Flavio combine well with Ruy saw the unbelievable goal rush continue. Ruy netting Botafogos 4th in the 77th minute. Despite valiant Vasco attempts in the remaining minutes, Botafogo managed to close each attempt out, and sealed the deal when Felipe Adao made it 5 for Botafogo deep into injury time. Botafogo 5, Vasco 3, a true classic was witnessed, fitting for this truly memorable ocassion. Goals: BOTAFOGO: Zé Roberto (4 min); Lúcio Flávio (69 min); Reinaldo (71 min); Ruy (77 min) ; Felipe Adão (92 min) VASCO: Romário (49min ,65min ,72 min) Have you been to the Maracana? Send us an email with your story () and we'll put it on this page. To Top Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life Email: Copyright © 2005 by Alex Bellos. Published by Bloomsbury, New York and London. Distributed to the trade by Holtzbrinck Publishers.