South Bay man cancels World Cup trip due to riots in Brazil

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- World Cup excitement is growing and so are the riots. Brazil has been plagued by them for weeks, even though more than a half million people are expected to be there for the games. The violence is keeping one South Bay man home.

Reza Sadeghi is watching online feeds of the riots in Brazil. Some of the violence is hard to watch.

Sadeghi said, "You couldn't convince me that the country is secure enough for me to go."

The 41-year-old father was supposed to go to the World Cup for 12 days. It would have been a dream for the former college soccer player since he had planned to spend $25,000 for the chance to go to six games. Sadeghi lost his $5,000 deposit, since cancelling his trip because of safety concerns.

Sadeghi said, "The chance of being kidnapped or God knows what could happen... and the other thing is you don't want to be in a country where the people are not happy about you being there."

Many in Brazil are angry the government spent $11 billion on the World Cup. That's not stopping hundreds of thousands of soccer fans from going to Brazil. The government has 157,000 troops and police on the ground to protect them.

Britania Arms bartender Chris Mendonca said, "I think Brazil is a pretty safe place. I think they're dealing with some things, but I think overall that it will probably turn out to be a pretty good event."

The optimism is pouring out of the San Jose bar. Soccer fans are ready to pack Britania Arms; they've been calling all day long to make sure this place will be open bright and early Thursday. The brackets and posters are up for all of those who wish they could go.

The World Cup runs until July 13.