Greetings From Rio de Janeiro, 24 Hours Before Kick Off of the World Cup

RIO DE JANEIRO—A dour British travel writer once complained that he disliked Brazil because every time a mango fell out of a tree and a fly landed on it, 100 people come out singing and dancing. Imagine what it looks like when the Brazilian Seleção scores a goal in the World Cup.

For all of the clichés about Brazil being the soccer capital of the world, a recent newspaper poll showed that Brazilians are divided roughly 50-50 in favor of or against this year's tournament. The haters complain about overspending on white elephant stadiums in cities that don't have top-level club teams and the fact that most of the members of this year's Seleção are "mercenaries" who play abroad and are barely known to the average Brazilian fan.

Enough about the Seleção. What about the other teams? Will Messi finally prove that he is capable of leading the Argentines to victory? Will team USA finally top it's 3rd place performance at the inaugural World Cup in Uruguay in 1930? Will an African team finally win its first World Cup? What about Germany? Will Manaus' hot weather bring down England?

And what about the tourists? Despite all of the talk about street crime, the city is on total lock down by the police, military and FIFA security. At 7 AM this morning there were a hundred army men jogging and chanting their way around Maracana Stadium.

The real thievery that is taking place is price gouging by the taxi drivers and landlords. As an English fan told me last night, "I ordered the cheapest room I could find in Ipanema on the internet. They didn't tell me that I would be sharing it with a 90-year-old woman and five cats. I'm mixing beer and rum because the only way I will get any sleep is by drinking myself into a stupor."

Brian Mier is an American ex-pat who lives in Rio. He is the author of Slow Ride. His previous work for Vice can be viewed here.