Culture, Sports

“Everyone Here has Gone Crazy,” Agnes Zuñiga, Nicoyan in Brazil

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Agnes Zuñiga lives in Nicoya, is 31 years old and works as a pharmacist for the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS – Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social). Her life is typically no different than that of other Nicoyans, but in the last few weeks everything changed.

She is living, along with some thousand Ticos who are in attendance for the 2014 Brazil World Cup, a fantastic dream from which Zuñiga does not want to wake up.

The soccer fan told us about her experience in Brazil. “To be here is a dream from which we do not want to wake up. A happiness fills my heart and flows out with every cheer for the Sele [the popular name of Costa Rica’s national team]. Some 150 Ticos more have arrived for the round of 16. The countries that support the Sele are, first, Brazil. Here all Brazilians eat and dream [with] Costa Rica. They want the final to be Brazil vs. Costa Rica. We also get a lot of support from Mexicans, Argentinians, Japanese and Columbians.”

Zuñiga continued, “Everyone here has gone crazy. Especially the Brazilians; they ask us for anything from Costa Rica. Every time we’re walking in the streets they shout, ‘Oeee oeee oeee Ticos. The Germans and French congratulate us for the excellent games.”

When asked if she has had any negative experiences, Zuñiga said that, “What hurts most is that here FIFA has points of sale and it has been impossible to find anything from Costa Rica. They didn’t bring anything for us, besides a simple magnet. Besides that everything is Italy, England, Germany, Mexico, Brazil.”

For her, as well as the rest of the country, what the Sele is doing is no longer a dream, but a reality.

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