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Vamos Korea!

June 12, 2014

Korean Brazilians ready to roar 

Korean Brazilians practice for the street cheer that will take place on June 17 and June 21.

Korean Brazilians practice for the street cheer that will take place on June 17 and June 21.

Sao Paulo police stand in front of World Cup banners.

Sao Paulo police stand in front of World Cup banners.

By Kim Sang-mok
from Sao Paolo, Brazil

With Korea’s first World Cup standoff against Russia just days away, Sao Paulo’s Korean community is busy in preparation for a large-scale street cheer.

Second-generation Koreans, some of them members of the Brazil World Cup Korean Support Committee, greeted the national team wearing red shirts that read “Let’s Go Korea” as they passed through the city and headed toward base camp in Foz do Iguacu on Wednesday.

According to the committee, plans for Korean supporters to crowd the streets were finalized after an agreement with Sao Paulo police. About 5,000 supporters of the Korean team will gather at the metro station near Koreatown in Bom Retiro on both gamedays, June 17 and June 22.

Roads near the station will be closed for the gathering, and police have agreed to provide 100 officers in case of any incidents that may arise.

The committee said a large screen, as well as a performance stage, would be set up at the station.

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The entrance of Bom Retiro in Sao Paulo.

Korea’s match against Belgium will be held in Sao Paulo’s own Arena Corinthians on June 26.

One thousand tickets have also been reserved by the committee and the Korean Brazilian athletic association.

“We’re expecting about 3,000 Koreans to be at the stadium for the game against Belgium, as the number of individuals who have bought tickets in addition to our reservations isn’t a small number,” said Han Myung-don, vice president of the Korean association in Brazil.

Cheer performances to be put on at the station will include traditional samulnori, a pungmul band and a dance team, all comprised of first- and second-generation Korean Brazilians.