Porto Alegre
There's a joke in Brazil that the No. 1 sport is volleyball -- because football isn't a sport, but a religion.
In which case, is perhaps the Brazilian football equivalent of the Vatican or the Potala Palace. The most southern of the 12 World Cup venues has two major teams -- Gremio and Internacional -- and their cross-town rivalry is the most intense in all Brazil.
Internacional vice-president Diana de Oliveira says, apparently in all seriousness, that she never writes in blue pen, because blue is Gremio's color. The idea that she could have children who would support Gremio is unthinkable.
Her husband is an Internacional supporter, although she says that's not the only reason she married him.
he city of 1.4 million people is hosting four group games -- France-Honduras, Netherlands-Australia, South Korea-Algeria, Argentina-Nigeria -- as well as the last 16 knockout game between the winner of Group G, likely to be Germany, and the runner-up from Group H.
