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Whitbeck, Vinci: World Cup aftermath

(CNN) -- Cheering crowds took to the streets Sunday in Brazil after their soccer team defeated Germany 2-0 to win the South American nation's fifth World Cup.

CNN Correspondent Harris Whitbeck covered the scene in Rio de Janeiro, while Correspondent Alessio Vinci reported on the German reaction from Berlin. They spoke Sunday to CNN's Kyra Phillips.

CNN's Harris Whitbeck
CNN's Harris Whitbeck  

WHITBECK: This is one tough assignment I have here on the beach of Copacabana in downtown Rio de Janeiro.

Fans have gone absolutely crazy. They were a little bit nervous in the first half. And after Ronaldo, the star of the Brazilian soccer team, scored not once but twice, the mood just changed dramatically.

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CNN's Harris Whitbeck reports from Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as fans celebrate an unprecedented fifth World Cup title. (June 30)

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People have been singing, dancing, jumping up and down. Several samba schools had been on standby, ready to take to the streets and start parading, dancing and playing the traditional drums and music here.

This party is going to last a long time. I can guarantee that people are very happy, singing a traditional song where they express their love for Brazil and their pride in their country and in their soccer team.

This is the fifth time that Brazil has become the world soccer champion, and people here say it's the country's birthright. Soccer is the national pastime here. People are very, very proud, very, very happy. Not the same mood, I'm afraid, in Berlin, where CNN's Alessio Vinci has that story.

CNN's Alessio Vinci
CNN's Alessio Vinci  

VINCI: Well, you can imagine the scene here in Berlin, in downtown Berlin, in Potsdamer Square, is quite different from what you are witnessing there in Brazil. And indeed throughout Germany there is a sadness -- there is, of course, disappointment for this missed opportunity.

However, no desperation among German supporters, who knew that the Brazilian team was a stronger team. Although many of the German supporters and the German officials here had put all of their hopes in Oliver Kahn, the star German goalkeeper, and indeed it was tragically because of a mistake by the German goalkeeper that Ronaldo, the Brazilian striker, managed to score the first goal and eventually led Brazil to this victory.

You may hear the crowd behind me, mainly because there is still a small group of Brazilian supporters who are celebrating here in downtown Berlin.

The Germans also managed to still wave some of their flags. There is a lot of camaraderie here between the two opposing factions. The Germans mainly are very happy with the way this whole World Cup went.

They were not the favorite ones. They were happy that their team brought them all the way to the final. They knew that Brazil was hard to beat.



 
 
 
 







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