In a nation full of soccer fanatics, 57-year-old lawyer Nelson Paviotti stands out like a sore thumb. For the past 20 years, he’s worn only yellow, green, blue and white clothing – the colors of the Brazilian soccer team. And there’s a specific reason for his loud choice in clothes. He had promised to wear their colors if the team won the Soccer World Cup in 1994. They kept their end of the bargain and so did Nelson.
Nelson goes to work each day sporting a banana-yellow jacket, a dark green shirt, yellow pants, and a bright blue hat. But he hasn’t just stopped at clothes. Nelson has gone all out – his office is decorated with yellow walls, blue and white filing cabinets, and a blue desk (and his screensaver is the team’s logo). The clocks, chairs, phones and stereo are green, yellow, blue or white and so are the folders that contain his clients’ documents. The office décor consists of a green-yellow guitar, a soccer-ball shaped woman’s purse, cups and mugs bearing the national coat of arms, and little key chains, flags and posters with the team’s players.
Photo: Erica Dezonne/AAN
A painting of the national flag adorns the area outside Nelson’s residence. Inside, his house is pretty much done up the same way. His cars – two Volkswagen Beetles – are painted in the same colors and fitted with speakers that play Brazil’s national anthem on his way to work. Nelson’s wife, retired teacher Marie Antoinette Paviotti says that she got used to it all over time. She revealed that 90 percent of the food he eats on match days is green and yellow. And it was difficult at first to source fabrics with the designs and colors of the flag, but they managed.
Photo: Facebook
It all started in 1994, just before the quarter-final match. In a burst of emotion, Nelson promised his friends: if Brazil won the championship he would use the colors green, yellow, blue and white for the rest of his life. And even though it’s been 20 long years, keeping the promise has never been difficult for him. “After all, we are talking about colors that symbolize Brazil,” said the patriot. “The team was the most aggressive, brought more optimism and patriotism, something that the country was missing.”
Photo: EPTV video caption
Nelson, who lives in Campinas city in Sao Paulo state, is very optimistic for this summer’s FIFA World Cup. He thinks it’s going to be a great success, whether Brazil turns sixth-time champion or not. “I feel like a patriot who loves Brazil, that loves his land, that loves his people – that’s full of hope for a greater future for Brazil,” he said. He feels that the whole world will be focused on Brazil at this year’s championship. “It’s going to show that we are here, what the true Brazil is just when the World Cup and football (soccer) is uniting the people.”
Nelson also happens to be a huge fan of singer Fafa de Belem, and admires her active participation in the history of Brazil. He has a large poster of the singer pasted on the back of his car. “My dream is to one day meet her in person,” he confessed.
