SYDNEY Brazil's footballers swapped their superstar lifestyles for the more humble Olympic spirit on Saturday when they moved into the athletes' village for two days.
"I want them to leave their usual role of footballers behind and learn what it is to be an Olympic athlete," said Coach Wanderley Luxemburgo at a hastily arranged and chaotic press conference in the village at Homebush Bay.
"It is important for them to walk around and see other athletes from other sports I don't want them to be like strangers in the nest and not know what being in the Olympics is all about.
They are not extra-terrestrials," he added.
Brazil have been staying in a resort hotel on Australia's Gold Coast near Brisbane, where they play their first three opening round matches against Slovakia, South Africa and Japan.
DO one of the first things they did in the village was to get a meal in the canteen alongside other less well-known, humbler sportsmen and women.
"Right now there are no superstars. Ronaldinho, Alex, and the others are just Olympic athletes like everyone else," said Luxemburgo.
Four years ago the Brazilian players remained aloof from the Atlanta Olympics, staying in a luxurious six-star hotel in Athens, Georgia and not even staying behind to collect their bronze medals after a 5-0 win over Portugal in the third-place playoff.
Luxemburgo, who is also the head coach of the national team, is bidding to bring Brazil its first ever Olympic soccer gold the only major title to have eluded it in the sport.
Brazil play a warm-up match today against National League club Marconi Stallions in Sydney. The game is expected to be watched by a capacity crowd of 12,000 all of them entitled to free admission under Olympic rules.
Brazil return to the Gold Coast on Monday and if results go their way will not return to Sydney until the Olympic final on September 30.
(Reuter)