Rio De Janeiro: Residents of soccer crazy Rio de Janeiro are "taxing" motorists to raise funds to decorate their streets in the green and yellow of the Brazilian flag for the World Cup.
Cars have been stopped by rope barriers in side streets and drivers asked to make contributions.
In one recent such incident in Rio's hilltop Santa Teresa district, a young man in T-shirt and shorts approached a halted car.
But instead of drawing a gun - as often happens in this crime-plagued city - the man politely asked: "Any change to buy decorations ?" On payment of a couple of reais ($1), the rope was dropped.
Across this huge seaside city, locals have been stringing yellow and green tinsel across streets, hanging flags and painting portraits of soccer stars on walls and roads before the big kick-off in Germany on Friday.
Brazil's first game is against Croatia on Tuesday.
Giant caricatures of goal scoring ace Ronaldo and World Player of the Year Ronaldinho stare at passers by while in Santa Teresa there is a mural of Argentine maestro Diego Maradona in a trolley car with Brazilian players.
Coca-Cola and the O Globo newspaper, part of Brazil's biggest media group, are sponsoring a competition to see which street conjures up the brightest decoration.
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