[1]A screenshot of the Alto Peru Mounted Fanfare Band playing “Brasil, decime qué se siente” in Tucumán on Argentina's Independence Day.
Even before the national team defeated the Netherlands to advance to the World Cup final, Argentina was celebrating. July 9 is the country's Independence Day [2], and the day before archrival Brazil was knocked out of the tournament after suffering a brutal 7-1 loss to Germany.
The delight was especially palpable in Tucumán, a city that played a leading role in the Argentinian independence and was an important witness to the events of 1816. There, the Alto Peru Mounted Fanfare Band [3] played a taunting song called “Brasil, decime qué se siente” (roughly translated as, how about that, Brazil!) that has become popular this World Cup.
The lyrics [4], set to the melody of Creedence Clearwater Rival's “Bad Moon Rising,” refer to Argentina's win over Brazil in the 1990 World Cup in Italy. That match remained goalless until the final minutes when Diego Maradona [5] passed the ball to Claudio Caniggia [6], who managed to score on Brazilian goalkeeper Taffarel [7]. Argentina went on to lose to West Germany in the final:
Brasil decime qué se siente tener en casa a tu papá / te juro que aunque pasen los años nunca lo vamos a olvidar / que el Diego los gambeteó, el Cani los vacunó / están llorando desde Italia hasta hoy// A Messi lo van a ver la copa nos va a traer// Maradona es más grande que Pelé.
Brazil, tell me how it feels to have your daddy home / I swear that even though time passes by we won't forget it / that Diego [Maradona] dribbled past you and [Claudio Caniggia] Cani scored on you / you have been crying since Italy / you'll see [Lionel] Messi bring us the cup / Maradona is greater than Pelé.
News and video of the military band's musical jab spread quickly on Twitter. The blog Acordes 21 [8] posted the chords [9] for anyone who would like to play the song.
The fans behind the song are Ignacio Harraca and Patricio Scordo. Harraca explained to Argentinian newspaper Clarín [10] that after confirming that they had tickets to see Argentina play, him and a group of friends wanted to do something different to celebrate. Once they finalized the lyrics, they circulated them on social media and distributed them on paper. They debuted the song in front of the team's hotel the night before the Bosnia match:
Repartimos los folletos, y cuando se hizo un poco de silencio empezamos a cantarla. Al rato estaban todos prendidos y fueron como 40 minutos que se escuchó casi sin parar
We distributed the leaflets, and when there was a bit of silence we began to sing it. A while later, everyone had caught on and for like 40 minutes you could hear [the song] non-stop.
Argentina plays Germany in the World Cup final on Sunday, July 13.