 |
|
 |
||
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|||
Macon MFA 1805 A N Missouri St Macon, MO 63552 660-385-5753 Shelbina MFA 215 W Maple St Shelbina, MO 63468 573-588-4140 CLICK - MFA CONNECT |
|
Printable Page
05/18 15:42 CDT Brazilian artisan crafts replica World Cup trophies to the joy
of locals and celebrities alike
Brazilian artisan crafts replica World Cup trophies to the joy of locals and
celebrities alike
By ELONORE HUGHES
Associated Press
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) --- Brazilian soccer fan and former metallurgist Jarbas
Meneghini Carlini has been combining his love for the sport with his business,
making replicas of the FIFA World Cup trophy in his workshop in western Rio de
Janeiro.
After watching Brazil's then-captain Dunga triumphantly lift the trophy
following the team's fourth World Cup win in 1994, Carlini resolved to create
his own.
"They weren't for sale. So I decided to make the trophies myself. And today,
I'm a trophy craftsman," he said, from his workshop in Campo Grande.
The 58-year-old makes the replica World Cup trophies by hand from molds and
finishes them off with paint. They range in size and price from about $1 to
$100.
Carlini sells them to fans and tourists at the nearby Maracana soccer stadium.
But he has also gifted the trophies to stars including Pel, Jorginho and
Ronaldinho and sent them across Brazil and around the world.
To explain the emotion so often evident on his clients' faces when they pose
for photos with his work, Carlini points to the trophy's meaning.
"Everyone wants to be a world champion, everyone wants to be the best," Carlini
said.
Like the game's original most-coveted accolade, Carlini's trophies depict two
stylized human figures reaching upward to support a globe. But his are made
from plaster, rather than 18-carat gold.
"Yet it brings the same sense of wonder, as if it were made of gold," Carlini
said.
Over the years, the artisan has branched out, and now creates replicas of the
former World Cup trophy used between 1930 and 1970, the Copa Libertadores
trophy but also golden balls, gloves and boots.
World Cup years are particularly good for business, Carlini said.
As the country gears up to support the Seleao --- or national team --- in this
year's tournament hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico in June and
July, Carlini has prepared 200 trophies, but says sales could reach 600 if
Brazil were to win.
South America's biggest country has won five World Cup titles, more than any
other nation, but its last successful attempt dates to 2002.
Brazilians are known for their joyful style of play and pulling off spectacular
tricks such as a bicycle kick, said Carlini, who hopes his team will end the
dry spell this year.
"That's what we should use in the next World Cup to become champions: use joy,
use artistry," he said.
___
Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at
https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
