It had meant getting up at 5.0am and travelling for almost three hours across Switzerland but for Maria da Silva Hasler the effort was worth it. "I am felicissima - as happy as can be!" said the 39-year-old Brazilian, accompanied by her Swiss husband Lukas. The couple - dressed from head to toe in yellow and green - had just spent an hour watching the Brazilian national team's morning training session in Weggis, on the banks of Lake Lucerne.
The Haslers watched as stars such as Adriano, Ronaldinho and Kaka jogged around a pitch and then lay down in the centre circle to perform stretching exercises.
Weggis is a quiet tourist town of 4,000 that caters mostly for the elderly, who come here for the tranquillity and mountain air. These are also reasons why it was chosen by the Brazilian squad for their two-week training period before they travel to Germany.
Yet the effect of hosting the World Cup favourites has created remarkable excitement not just in the area but throughout Switzerland. All 48,000 tickets to see the training sessions - almost 3,500 per session, each costing £9 - sold out within 24 hours. Each day Weggis - which has Brazilian flags draped from almost every home - quadruples its population as fans arrive for the sessions and to enjoy the adjacent "carnival" village.
The road that leads to the Thermoplan stadium - which cost £600,000 and was built specially for the Brazilians' stay - is transformed daily into a Brazilian street party. Sixty stalls sell merchandise from flags and T-shirts to South American food and drinks such as guarana, caipirinhas and feijoada. Loud samba and baile funk music comes from Brazilians improvising rhythms on percussion instruments, a stage featuring Brazilian bands and ghetto blasters at many of the stalls. In the evenings girls in feathers and sequin bikinis give samba demonstrations.
"Everything is great here," said Carlos Alberto Parreira, Brazil's coach. The affection of the fans has really massaged the players' egos. They are applauded wherever they go." The players, though, have little opportunity to join the carnival; they are bused in and out for training.
The situation in Weggis is unprecedented because this is the first time Brazil have not started their World Cup preparation in their home country.
The infrastructure to host the Brazilian team cost an estimated £6 million, spread among sponsors and the state. This includes £4,000 to a local pig farmer in return for him not buying pigs this season - his farm is by the stadium and locals were worried about the smell.
No expense was spared on the turf, which is made of the same grass as the Olympiastadion in Berlin - where the World Cup final will be played.
Press interest has also been overwhelming. More than 750 journalists are registered, well over half of whom are Brazilians - many of them broadcasting detailed reports on exactly which warm-up exercises are being used.
Highlights of the training sessions have been sold to TV channels in about 40 countries, according to Philippe Huber, chief executive of Kentaro Group, which paid the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) £640,000 for the rights to the sessions and two friendly games against FC Lucerne and New Zealand next week.
The games, in Basle and Geneva, both sold out their 33,000 tickets and will be transmitted live in about 100 countries.
Guardian Service
