Brazilians heave sigh of relief with World Cup win

Brazilians breathed a sigh of relief Friday after the national team scored two stoppage time goals to beat Costa Rica 2-0 at the World Cup, bringing it closer to a berth in the round of 16.

Brazilian soccer fans celebrate their team's first goal as they watch a live telecast of their team's World Cup match against Costa Rica in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, June 22, 2018. Brazil won the match 2-0. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

With yellow-and-green T-shirts and Brazilian flags draped over their shoulders, thousands of people across Latin America's biggest country gathered in bars, restaurants, coffee shops and public squares to watch the game on large TV screens.

They went wild when Philippe Coutinho and Neymar scored Brazil's two goals with only a few minutes left in the game.

Brazilian soccer fans watch a live telecast of their team's World Cup match against Costa Rica, in a bar at the Alemao Complex slum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, June 22, 2018. Brazil won 2-0. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

The narrow streets, homes and storefronts of Rio's Alemao complex of slums, one of the city's largest, were decorated with Brazilian flags and small yellow and green banners.

Sipping beer with a group of friends and residents at one bar, Daisy Gouveia shouted and cheered when Brazil scores its first goal.

"My heart was beating very quickly during the first half," Gouveia, who is studying for her high school diploma, said. "But in the second half Brazil started playing well and went on to score."

Brazil's soccer fans celebrate the second goal scored by their team as they watch a live telecast of the World Cup match against Costa Rica, at the Alemao Complex slum of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, June 22, 2018. Brazil won 2-0. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

At the same bar, motorbike taxi driver Marcio de Souza said he was elated with the result.

"The match was wonderful. The Costa Ricans blocked us for a while but Brazil was better and clinched the victory, bringing happiness to all Brazilians."

A Brazilian soccer fan celebrates his team's first goal as they watch a live telecast of their team's World Cup match against Costa Rica, at the bus station in Brasilia, Brazil, Friday, June 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Nearby, a group of friends gathered around a table in front of a flag-decorated house where coffee and cake was being served as they watched the match. For a while several of them complained that Brazil wasn't playing well, but when the first goal was scored the hope of being world champions emerged in their enthusiastic shouts and cheers.

A Brazilian soccer fan celebrates his team's first goal as they watch a live telecast of their team's World Cup match against Costa Rica, at the bus station in Brasilia, Brazil, Friday, June 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

"It is difficult to say who will win the World Cup," slum resident Leandro de Castro said. "The other teams are also very good, so it will be difficult. But I think we can get there and win the World Cup."

A Brazilian soccer fan watches a live telecast of his team's World Cup match against Costa Rica, at the bus station in Brasilia, Brazil, Friday, June 22, 2018. Brazil won the match 2-0. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Brazilian soccer fans watch a live telecast of their team's World Cup match against Costa Rica, in a distribution center for vegetables, in Brasilia, Brazil, Friday, June 22, 2018. Brazil won 2-0. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Brazilian soccer fans watch a live telecast of their team's World Cup match against Costa Rica, in a distribution center of vegetables in Brasilia, Brazil, Friday, June 22, 2018. Brazil won 2-0. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Thursday vetoed a bill that could reduce the 27-year prison sentence of his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro for the far-right leader’s failed 2023 coup attempt.

Lula, who had already pledged to block the proposal, announced the decision during a ceremony at the presidential palace in capital Brasilia. It came on the third anniversary of the riots led by Bolsonaro's supporters that destroyed government buildings and helped build the case against the former president.

The Senate passed the bill in December. Brazil's Congress could override Lula’s veto, but analysts say that could be a risky move for lawmakers ahead of next October’s general elections. The 80-year-old leftist president is currently a front-runner in a likely battle with Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, one of the former president's sons.

“We don’t have the right of forgetting our past. That’s why we don’t accept dictatorships, civilian or military,” Lula told members of the three branches of power during the ceremony. “Jan. 8 is marked by history as the day of our democracy’s victory. It is victory against those who tried to seize power through force, ignoring popular will expressed in the polls.”

Lula narrowly won his third term against Bolsonaro, who was later ruled ineligible to run until 2030 for abuse of power during the campaign trail. In November, the former president started serving for his attempted coup conviction, extending that deadline for the 70-year-old leader until 2033. Other cases remain pending against him.

Later, Brazilian Supreme Court's Chief Justice Luiz Edson Fachin said the riots were an example of how “the democratic rule of law is in crisis in the contemporary world.” He did not mention Bolsonaro or jailed military leaders involved in the plot in his speech.

“It is necessary to resist, always within democratic boundaries, and our pathway must be our institutions. Brazil has given a great example of resilience,” Fachin said at a ceremony in the court.

The country's top court says it opened more than 1,700 lawsuits against participants of the riots, including leaders and protesters.

Lower House Speaker Hugo Motta and the president of Brazil’s Senate, Davi Alcolumbre, did not attend the ceremony. Sen. Esperidião Amin, a Bolsonaro supporter, said hours after the ceremony at the presidential palace he will seek an amnesty bill for those involved in the coup attempt, a move that Brazilian Supreme Court justices have already said would be unconstitutional.

Bolsonaro supporters also destroyed part of Congress during the 2023 riots, often compared to the storming of Capitol Hill by voters of U.S. President Donald Trump one year earlier.

If Lula had not vetoed the bill, the count of attempting a coup d’etat would be absorbed into another charge, which would then reduce Bolsonaro’s prison sentence. Other convicts linked to the coup trial could have their jail time reduced by two-thirds.

Bolsonaro’s lawyers have urged authorities to put him on house arrest due to his poor health. He has been in and out of hospitals since he was stabbed by a man found to be mentally ill during the 2018 election campaign.

Neither the former president nor his lawyers have made comments about Lula’s decision.

Follow the AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

People carry a sign that reads in Portuguese: "Trump get out of Latin America" and "No amnesty for coup plotters" outside Planalto presidential palace on the three year anniversary of a failed attempt to overthrow Brazil’s democratic system, in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, center right, and his wife Rosangela da Silva, right, wave to supporters as they descend a ramp at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, after a ceremony marking the three year anniversary of a failed attempt to overthrow Brazil’s democratic system. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

People hold open a large Brazilian flag during a ceremony marking the three year anniversary of a failed attempt to overthrow Brazil’s democratic system, at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, center, and his wife, first lady Rosangela da Silva, attend a ceremony marking the three year anniversary of a failed attempt to overthrow Brazil’s democratic system, at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva waves after a ceremony marking the three year anniversary of a failed attempt to overthrow Brazil’s democratic system, as his wife Rosangela da Silva embraces him, at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. Lula's wife Rosangela da Silva walks next to him, wrapping her arms around him. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)