June 30, 2014
RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) - Ah, World Cup penalty shootouts. The stress. The anguish. The joy. The mad dash to find somewhere else to watch the final minutes after you smash your flat-screen TV.
That, at least, was the experience of Brazilian fan Rafael Gambarim, who was so overcome with emotion while watching the host nation's penalty shootout against Chile on Saturday that he smashed his own television set.
A video of his outburst has been shared 34,000 times on Facebook and been viewed more than 36,000 times on YouTube.
It shows Gambarim and two cousins embracing and leaping with joy as Brazil's Julio Cesar saves a penalty by Chile's Alexis Sanchez after their round of 16 match ended in a 1-1 draw after extra time.
Gambarim appears to kiss and embrace the TV as it shows images of the Brazilian keeper.
Then the shot turns to Sanchez, and Gambarim smacks him in the face -- shattering his screen and leaving the Chilean forward's image frozen in place, a spiderweb of illuminated shards crackling across it.
"I was annoyed because he scored (Chile's first-half) goal against Brazil, and when he missed, I was elated. When they showed him I said 'Take that boy!'" Gambarim told news portal G1.
"There was a lot of emotion at the time."
There were also still at least six penalty kicks remaining to decide whether Brazil advanced to the quarter finals or suffered a humiliating exit on home soil.
Gambarim said his broken TV was the last thing on his mind.
"TV, what TV? The problem was the penalties! We can always buy another TV, but we had to find a place to watch," he said.
Gambarim, a 30-year-old businessman from the southern town of Umuarama, ran to the house next door, where his neighbor agreed to let him and his cousins watch the rest of the match.
Brazil won 3-2 on penalties to move on to a quarter-final match against Colombia on Friday.
Gambarim said he planned to buy a new TV before then.
The video can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGV_nU6927Q.
