João Brasil is helping Adidas spread the Olympic spirit…
Foreshadowing a new wave of Brazilian soccer mania coinciding with the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Adidas has released a video celebrating Rio as the “football capital” that also spotlights a new official ball.
The mostly black-and-white spot uses a baile funk track, “Errejota no Comando” by Brasil, featuring popular Brazilian MC and actor Nego do Borel.
Brasil is best known for his 2011 single “L.O.V.E. Banana,” which Madonna was later accused of copying for “Give Me All Your Luvin.”
The 23-year-old Rio native Do Borel is a representative of the “ostentatious funk” style. The often campy rapper recently began appearing in the Brazilian soap opera Malhação, for which he wrote and recorded the theme song.
The Adidas video unveils a new soccer ball, the Errejota (errejota is the phonetic spelling in Portuguese of RJ, short for Rio de Janeiro).
Last week, international soccer organization FIFA announced that the men’s and women’s 2016 Olympic soccer finals will be played at Rio’s Maracanã Stadium.
The Errejota is the official FIFA ball for 2016.