New York City was awash with yellow and orange as sports fans took over the Big Apple on Saturday.
Brazil, the five time World Cup winners, were in town and so were their fans as they made themselves seen and heard throughout Manhattan in the lead up to their clash with Morocco at the New York New Jersey Stadium.
The Brazil fans have been pouring into the city in the days leading up to the game and making themselves known taking over Time Square with a sea of yellow.
New York is a sports mad city but before Saturday night their sports teams had been starved of success for years and in the case of the Knicks, decades. The Yankees have not won the World Series since 2009, the Mets have gone even longer with their last triumph coming the year after Live Aid in 1986. The New York Giants last won the Super Bowl in 2011 and the New York Rangers last lifted the Stanley Cup in 1994 - coincidentally when the USA last hosted the World Cup.
In fact, the last sports team to win a major title was New York City FC when they won the MLS Cup in 2021.
While the sea of yellow shirts of Brazil drifted off toward East Rutherford, native New Yorkers dressed in orange and blue got ready to cheer on their beloved New York Knicks in Game Five of the NBA finals against the San Antonio Spurs. Leading 3-1 after four games the Knicks needed just one more win to secure their first title since 1973.
In contrast Brazil have not won the World Cup since 2002 and while their 24 year wait is nothing compared to the Knicks, it feels like an age for a country who were used to winning.
For Brazil, there were plenty of question marks surrounding Carlo Ancelotti’s side in the lead up to this World Cup with more questions than answers in qualifying.
And after this opening game there are still plenty of questions. Big name players like Gabriel and Casemiro looking off the pace and riddled with mistakes.
Morocco looked far the better side in the opening exchanges and took the lead when Brahim Diaz played a razor sharp pass from the centre circle that split Marquinhos and Gabriel and allowed Ismael Saibari to run on and gloriously lift the ball over an on rushing Alisson to give the North African side the lead.
Brazil were all over the place. They were sloppy in possession and Lucas Paqueta and Casemiro struggled to find a teammate with their passes. At the back they looked shaky and there were real concerns for the five time winners.
But with football now mimicking basketball with four quarters rather than two halves thanks to the introduction of ‘hydration brakes’ that played into Ancelotti’s hands as Brazil - lucky not to be further behind by the first break - were able to make tactical changes and improve.
And as poor as some of Brazil’s big names were, Vinícius Junior grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and showed why he is regarded as one of the world’s top talents.
There did not seem to be too much to worry about for Morocco when Vinícius received the ball from Bruno Guimaraes on the left of the box, but he stepped inside the covering Neil El Aynaoui and shot into the far corner.
Like all good managers, Ancelotti reacted and made changes - hooking Casemiro and Roger Ibanez at the break. But there was to be no winner in the game and in fact it was Morocco who came closest to nicking it at the end when they were denied by a brilliant double save by Alisson from first Neil El Aynaoui and then the follow up from Ayyoub Bouaddi.
As the Brazil and Morocco fans made their way back to Manhattan via the ludicrously expensive trains and buses, the Knicks were getting underway in their search for history 1,580 miles away in San Antonio.
Yet again the Knicks were behind at half time - although this time only by five points and not the 27 they overcame in Game Four. And still trailing going into the final quarter.
Jalen Brunson led the comeback with a stunning 45 points in the game and the Knicks clawed their way into the lead with seconds remaining and held on for a 94-90 victory that sent their fans wild. Yet again their never say die attitude prevailed.
Cars, busses and lamp posts - nowhere was safe from a celebrating Knicks fans and chants of ‘Knicks in five’ rang around the avenues and streets while the NYPD were forced to close down the streets surrounding Madison Square Garden for fear of overcrowding and use horses to break up large groups of fans.
Car horns beeped and drinks were drunk and then thrown up in the air as Knicks fans celebrated their first NBA title for 53 years.
A fanbase starved of success for so long were going to celebrate and celebrate long into the night - even a number of skyscrapers, including the Empire State Building turned their lights orange and blue in tribute.
New York is very much orange and blue at the moment but if Brazil want to turn it yellow again on July 19 then there is plenty of work to do in the coming weeks. They face Haiti next and know that nothing other than a win is acceptable.
And if they are looking for their own Jalen Brunson to inspire them and lead them to glory then that player might just be Vini Jr and they will need him to be at his brilliant best if they are to earn a sixth star on their shirt.
The Brazil fans can certainly match the Knicks faithful, now it's time to see if the players can too.
