The Brazilian national soccer team has found an original way to relax between America Cup games. Americo Faria, one of the team’s supervisors, organizes bingo games for the group, which allows them to release some pressure and have fun while having the chance to win interesting prizes.

Bingo cards are green, yellow, red and blue and numbers are marked with black pens. Mr. Faria is in charge of giving the cards to the players and calling the bingo numbers. This quite uncommon bingo game has become a ritual for Brazilian players who reunite every night around a table to play.

“Eight!” Mr. Faria calls and all the guys look for the number in their cards and check if any other fellow player has it. Those who shout bingo receive a prize, which can go from a t-shirt to an iPod, depending on the importance of the day.

Playing bingo is not a novelty for Brazilian soccer players. In fact, it is one of the oldest traditions for this country’s teams during the America Cup. However, it had never been used as group therapy to cheer up players until now. If playing bingo games works to improve performance, it is likely that many other soccer teams will take it up.