The Sangai Express / Bradley Brooks(AP)
Rio De Janeiro, June 17 2010:
Shirley Cassares, watching Brazil's first World Cup match on a giant video screen set up on Copacabana beach, wobbled through a boozy samba and unveiled the Great Secret to her nation's sporting success.
"It's internal human heat! Other nations, they don't have the internal human heat we get from being with one another," she said, raising her voice above the horns, whistles, music and mayhem created by 10,000 people cheering Brazil as it defeated North Korea 2-1 on Tuesday.
"You see it in our team.
They feed off one another, they need one another, and they play beautifully because of it," said Cassares, 52, pointing to the throng around her.
Actually, Brazilians aren't the only ones feeling the heat.
World Cup fever has gripped the planet, and fans in each nation are celebrating the event in unique ways: Iraqis are once again gathering in groups to watch, relieved that vio-lence has subsided since the last tournament in 2006.Fans in Somalia risk bans by Islamic extremists just for tuning in.
Even North Koreans�normally shut off from the rest of the world�saw their team play, albeit a few hours after the game was over.
Brazil�the global superpower of the Jogo Bonito, or "the beautiful game" as the sport is known around the world�will host the next World Cup, in 2014 .
But the country is focused on winning this year's con-test, and Brazilians are filled with anxiety about their team's chances.
Yet they also have the perfect antidote to those worries.
"It's a gigantic party! It's bigger than Carnival! It's foot-ball and Carnival combined!" exclaimed 26-year-old Rodri- go Nobre, his Brazil shirt and shorts covered in sand.
"It's a time for coming together, forgetting our worries and cheering on our national team!" With that, he turned back to the video screen on the beach and gave an agonized scream as an early offensive attack by Brazil yielded no goal.
There is no beach party in Somalia.
Islamic fundamen-talists who control stretches of the African nation have banned watching the World Cup.
"We don't want our people to be preoccupied with semi-nude, crazy men jumping up and down who are chasing an inflated object," said Sheik Mohamed Osman Arus, head of operations for the Hizbul Islam insurgent group.
"We don't want them to waste their precious time and resources on un-Islamic matches, especially during prayer time," he said.
Hizbul Islam, just like its ally, the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab group, has imposed a strict version of Islam in areas under its control in southern and central Somalia.
Arus said that his group, contrary to earlier reports, is not arresting people for watching the World Cup or taking any other action against them beyond chasing them away from TVs.
He said militiamen chased dozens of fans from a video hall in the western town of Afgoye, where men and women mingled Saturday to watch the Argentina-Nigeria match in the first World Cup tournament held on African soil.