Red Devils touch down in Brazil

With just under a week to go before their first match in the World Cup, the Red Devils landed in Brazil on Tuesday evening at 19.40 local time. After their 14-hour flight, the players headed for the Paradise Golf & Lake resort at Mogi das Cruzes. The 23 Red Devils flew with 38 members of the Belgian Football Union, 53 journalists and a handful of supporters in a Brussels Airlines Airbus A330 specially fitted out and decorated for the occasion.

In order to adjust to the 5-hour time difference between Brazil and Belgium, the national team stepped out for their first meal wearing specially designed ‘re-timer’ glasses that they first tested out during a stay in the US a year ago. They will spend their first full day in the country training at their hotel before playing a training match behind closed doors with the US team on Thursday, June 12. They will fly this Sunday to Belo Horizonte, where they will take on Algeria on Tuesday, June 17.

Meantime, construction has got underway of the so-called ‘Devillage’ in Recreio dos Bandeirantes near Rio de Janerio, where Red Devils fans will be able to congregate to cheer on their team in Brazil. The Devillage campsite is the mastermind of the Dutch company Oranjecamping. Said the company’s founder Jokko de Wit: “Around 60 people are involved in building the campsite. There are already 100 tents set up. We’re now going to start building the first 50 luxury tents and another 100 luxury tents will go up on Wednesday and Thursday.”