Despite the fact that the economic crisis has seriously dented the living standards of ordinary Brazilians, the country’s football fans remain one of the leaders in terms of reserving tickets for matches of the 2018 World Soccer Championships in Russia.
In an interview with Sputnik Brazil, Brazilian fan Claudio Oliveira heaped praise on his country's national football team making it to the 2018 World Cup finals, which he said helped him make his choice.
"It was a sign of fate that I had to go to this country, get acquainted with this culture," he said, adding that it will be his first trip to Russia.
👏👏👏
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) 17 ноября 2017 г.
Well done, fans from 🇷🇺🇦🇷🇲🇽🇺🇸🇧🇷!
There's been a great demand for #WorldCup tickets👉https://t.co/bxcSNS0hGf pic.twitter.com/AdtFbU1Lf1
Renata Franco, chief executive of the Brazilian tourism agency Stella Barros, for her part, told Sputnik Brazil that the forthcoming championship is different from the previous ones and that her agency has "very high sales related to those families who want to spend their vacations by vising the 2018 World Cup in Russia. "
"It's clear that this event is more expensive [than a normal vacation], but it's worth the cost. Indeed, the World Cup in Russia is something unique," Franco said.
Some Brazilian fans, such as Michael Fernando, Neivert Helio, Ednei Arcoverde and Kelly Moraes Bergamini, said that they will refuse official tours and travel to Russia on their own in order to save some money.
READ MORE: Fan Forecast: 'Russia Will Organize Really Beautiful World Cup'
FIFA has, meanwhile, reported that "just 24 hours after resuming ticket sales for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™, a total of 159,402 tickets…have been allocated to fans from around the world through FIFA.com/tickets."