the impressive maracana stadium was originally opened, in 1950, to host the world cup, during which crowds of 173,000 fans crammed into its stands to roar on their teams - at the start of the world cup, the demanding construction works were not 100% finished and the exterior paint job was missing - preluding the final game brasil made an official bet stating they would paint the stadium in the colors of the winning team.

prior to the final match the previous games played by the Brazilian team were easily won, and the Uruguayan team barely qualified for the final - despite the anticipated victory brasil suffered a devastating loss to uruguay - staying true to their bet the brasilians painted the stadium in white and blue.

the defeat was so painful to cariocas and brazilians in general that legends were created to explain the loss - the most famous being of the macaranaço, a blue ghost that prevented the brazilian team from winning.