Brazil fans shake off the blues, put on orange

Orange clad Brazilians joined Dutch fans who were outnumbered by a massive blue-and-white Argentine presence around Sao Paulo's Arena Corinthians.

Tiago Pinhiero, an advertisement executive from Rio de Janeiro, bought his orange shirt at a shopping mall near the stadium.

"No Brazilian likes to see Argentina win," he said as he walked towards the arena.

"We were going to support the Netherlands from the beginning but after yesterday's defeat even more."

Brazil was taken out of the World Cup on Tuesday by Germany with a humiliating 7-1 defeat that sunk this soccer-loving nation into depression.

And the idea of Argentina beating Netherlands to reach Sunday's final at the Maracana stadium of Rio de Janeiro is simply unbearable for many Brazilians.

"Our rivalry with Argentina is historic," explains Guilherme Samora, a 25-year old businessman riding the subway to the stadium with his old Ruud van Nistelrooy shirt.

"If Afghanistan were playing Argentina we will be wearing Afghan shirts today."

And that is good news for Ben Oude Kamdhuis, a tall 53 year-old Dutchman clad in orange from head to toes, including his dyed beard.

"I think it is going help us that all of Brazil are behind Holland winning today."