An angry canary in Kazan -
A canary is very angry. But Brazilians love it.
Canarinho, the image of an angry bird that reflects the frustration of Brazilian fans after the failure four years ago at home, has become a sensation wherever it goes in Russia.
The canary, always dressed in the team's uniform, resembles Angry Birds a bit. It's a kind of Tweety, the character from "Looney Tunes," but with a deep dismayed face.
Some Brazil fans call it "Canarinho Pistola," or "Angry Canarito," and the team's coach himself is amazed by its popularity.
"Wow! It's quite a character," said Tite. "It has its own charisma."
Canarinho is a kind of "bad boy," unlike the previous mascot, of the same species but with a friendlier image, that had represented the national team for years but was never popular.
In fact, Brazil had never really embraced the tradition of sporting mascots. That changed when the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), inspired in part by the Chicago Bulls mascot in the NBA, turned its cute canary into a threatening character for fans to identify with before the World Cup.
"We wanted to represent this desire of Brazilians to always win in football," said CBF's marketing director Gilberto Ratto in an interview with The Associated Press in Russia. "The mascot has the face that all Brazilians put on when they play football, always with that determination to win. It's the kind of expression you would expect to see on Neymar's face during a World Cup final."
The idea was to give the mascot an image and character that would resonate well with the new generations. Its personality is similar to that of Benny the Bull, the aforementioned mascot from Chicago, which became popular in the United States for bothering fans and rival players during games.
Created at the end of 2016, Canarinho has become known even outside the world of football. It now represents the general discontent of the population in a country facing a political crisis, growing violence, and an unstable economy.
The CBF tried to use a mascot with a friendlier face in several social events held the previous year. But it had to return immediately to the disgruntled figure, as everyone started asking about it.
The new canary is not allowed to appear during the matches in Russia because FIFA's rules protect the official mascot of the World Cup, the wolf Zabivaka. However, Canarinho accompanies the team to almost every city. It often appears in front of stadiums before matches and in some training sessions.
And it's already in Kazan, before Friday's match against Belgium, corresponding to the quarterfinals.
Fans chanted the mascot's name while waiting for Brazil's players to arrive at the team's hotel for a recent match in Moscow. They almost went crazy when security guards, apparently thinking that the mascot was a fan trying to sneak in, removed it from the reserved area in front of the hotel.
Canarinho didn't think twice and joined the "torcedores" party. It played the drum with them and posed for dozens of selfies before being allowed to return to the hotel after the intervention of Brazilian leaders.
The mascot, which already has hundreds of fake profiles on social media, also often shows off its football skills with a series of tricks to impress fans.
The CBF is tolerant of Canarinho's behavior. It often uses its image on social media and promotes it frequently.
The canary has appeared on TV shows and has toured some of the most iconic places in Russia where Brazil has played. The players also show their liking for the new mascot.