The 7-1 defeat against the Germans in their home ground is perhaps the darkest memory that Brazilian fans hold. By the time it was 5-0, even the German players had stopped celebrating, quite taken aback by the fact that they were facing hardly any resistance. It was a painful moment for Brazilian fans, but Clovis Fernandes’ face mirrored more pain than anybody else’s.
Known as Brazil’s biggest fan, Clovis Fernanades is well-known in the world of football. He has travelled to more than 60 countries in his lifetime, supporting the Brazilian national team in more than 200 matches. Starting with the 1990 World Cup, he has been to every World Cup ever since. He witnessed Brazil winning the trophy twice- in 1994 and 2002. Fernandes always carried a photo album with him which had pictures of him in the different cities, and some lucky ones with the football stars. Such was his fame, that he was even personally invited to Brazilian striker, Fred’s house during the 2014 edition. Another characteristic feature of Clovis was the World Cup replica- which he carried to each and every match. He soon become popular and the most recognisable Brazilian fan in the stadium. In the 2014 edition, after the crushing defeat, he passed on the replica to a fellow German fan saying- “Take it to the finals. As you can see it is not easy, but you deserve it. Congratulations.” Sadly, he passed away in 2015 after a long nine year battle with cancer.
However, his sons, Frank and Gustavo Fernandes have decided to continue his legacy. They travelled to Russia this year, along with a new replica of the trophy and hopefully would be seen in Qatar in 2022 again.
