Brazil celebrates rival Argentina's FIFA World Cup defeat

Rio De JaneiroBrazilians bitter about their teams disastrous World Cup celebrated Argentinas defeat to Germany in the final Sunday by dancing and launching fireworks relieved that their archrivals failed to triumph on their soilIn Brasilia and Sao Paulo fireworks exploded after Mario Goetze scored in extratime to give the Germans a lastgasp victory at Rio de Janeiros Maracana Stadium At a bar near the stadium Brazilians chanted Cry Cry Argentina in a nod to the song Dont cry for me ArgentinaAlso ReadFIFA World Cup Germany crowned champions after beating Argentina 10Lionel Messi Pic AFPTens of thousands of Argentine fans who had swarmed Rios Copacabana Beach to watch the game on a jumbo screen fell silent while Brazilians broke into song and danced Some even waved German flagsThank God thank God that Germany won said Caio Ferraz 45 a Brazilian looking up at the stars on the legendary beach If Argentina had won they would have made fun of us for years said Ferraz who wore the jersey of Rio club Flamengo whose red and black stripes match Germanys away jerseyTensions rose with some fights reportedly breaking out between Brazilians and Argentines in Copacabana and outside the Maracana Police used tear gas to disperse fans near the stadium the G1 news website reportedIn Copacabana some 50 people tossed beach chairs and bottles at each other causing several injuries according to local mediaGermany became the first European country to win the Cup in Latin America but that was not enough to convince many Brazilians to support their southern neighbors Germany even humiliated Brazil in the semifinals trouncing the hosts 71 But seeing their rivals win in their temple of football would have deepened the nightmare for Brazilians still dizzy from their teams semifinal defeat and 30 thirdplace playoff loss to the NetherlandsBrazilians painted the German flags on their cheeks and even wore the European teams jersey On its website the sports daily Lance asked Tell me how you feel now in a response to a similar Argentine chant With Brazil in their hearts Germany are fourtime world champions it said Flamengo is Germany At a Rio bar dozens of Brazilians cheering for Germany wore the Flamengo clubs shirt Brazilians and Germans hugged each other with Europeans saying they wanted their team to win the tournament for their hostsWe never want Argentina to win here in Brazil Never said Cassio Conceicao 51 wearing his beloved Flamengo jersey Germany respected us even though they thrashed usOther Fla fans as the local club is known said Argentines should be content with having Pope Francis They have the best pope a wonderful pope Thats enough said Barbara Dias who watched the final with her husband Diego German fan Julian Deutz was happy to have Brazilian backing It feels really great that Brazilian are supporting us he said But we also felt sorry for Brazil with regards to the semifinal Argentine taunts But Argentines had not pulled punches either Since the tournament kicked off on June 12 legions of Argentines who flooded Brazilian cities taunted their hosts with chants that their hero Diego Maradona was better than Brazil legend Pele After Brazils loss to Germany Argentines held up seven fingers and chanted They ate seven goals Brazilians chanted back that they had won a record five titlesAfter the loss to the Netherlands took the twogame tally to 10 goals a group of Argentines walked down a Rio street in the dead of night and loudly counted to 10 But now it Argentinas turn to cry Diana Rochman a 55yearold wearing a jersey of Argentine star Lionel Messi fought back tears after watching the game at a public screening in Sao Paulo It was a very good game but Im very sad Depressed It was sure they would win and Brazilians wanted us to lose she saidA few Brazilians did back their South American hermanos brothers wearing the Argentina jersey and hoping the Cup would stay in their continent