Rio De Janerio:
Activists burned a mock World Cup trophy on Monday in protests called to demand more investment in health and education as Brazil played a clutch match against Cameroon.
The protests in Brasilia, where the match was being played, and Sao Paulo, the cradle of Brazil's recent protest movement, drew relatively small crowds and did not descend into the violence that has at times marred similar demonstrations in the past.
"I want to see a worker earn the same salary as Neymar," was one of the rallying cries for some 200 protesters in Brasilia who marched from a bus station to the stadium where the star striker was leading the team into its final Group A match.
One group of protesters burned a replica of the gold World Cup trophy Brazil hope to win for a sixth time.
In Sao Paulo, about 100 protesters -- watched over by around 200 riot police -- marched up the economic hub's central Paulista Avenue, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) from where the Netherlands beat Chile 2-0 in their final Group B encounter.
"They don't let us protest, yet we're in a democratic country. There shouldn't be a Cup in a country that doesn't have health and education. The money the Cup brings in won't cover what we spent on it," protester Leticia Pieres, an IT analyst, told AFP.
"There aren't many protesters because of the police repression on the first day of the Cup," said Rodrigo Antonio, 36, referring to the tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets police used to break up protesters on June 12, the day the tournament opened in Sao Paulo.
Eight activists played a bit of football in the middle of the avenue, but did not try to block traffic.
Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets last year to demand more spending on infrastructure and social programs in protests that erupted during the Confederations Cup, a World Cup dress rehearsal.
But the protests have been far smaller during the World Cup, drawing crowds in the hundreds at most.
The protests in Brasilia, where the match was being played, and Sao Paulo, the cradle of Brazil's recent protest movement, drew relatively small crowds and did not descend into the violence that has at times marred similar demonstrations in the past.
"I want to see a worker earn the same salary as Neymar," was one of the rallying cries for some 200 protesters in Brasilia who marched from a bus station to the stadium where the star striker was leading the team into its final Group A match.
One group of protesters burned a replica of the gold World Cup trophy Brazil hope to win for a sixth time.
In Sao Paulo, about 100 protesters -- watched over by around 200 riot police -- marched up the economic hub's central Paulista Avenue, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) from where the Netherlands beat Chile 2-0 in their final Group B encounter.
"They don't let us protest, yet we're in a democratic country. There shouldn't be a Cup in a country that doesn't have health and education. The money the Cup brings in won't cover what we spent on it," protester Leticia Pieres, an IT analyst, told AFP.
"There aren't many protesters because of the police repression on the first day of the Cup," said Rodrigo Antonio, 36, referring to the tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets police used to break up protesters on June 12, the day the tournament opened in Sao Paulo.
Eight activists played a bit of football in the middle of the avenue, but did not try to block traffic.
Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets last year to demand more spending on infrastructure and social programs in protests that erupted during the Confederations Cup, a World Cup dress rehearsal.
But the protests have been far smaller during the World Cup, drawing crowds in the hundreds at most.
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