2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil
Until July 13th, the entire planet will live and breathe football.
Ştefan Stoica, 12.06.2014, 15:04
Brazil has overcome the most important obstacles and is now prepared, both on the pitch and outside it, the president of South-America’s largest economy Dilma Rousseff said in a televised address ahead of the World Cup’s first match. Rousseff, running for a second term in office in October, spoke about the benefits the World Cup brings to Brazil, such as airports, ports, roads, bypasses, bridges, rapid transit routes and advanced public transportation systems.
The president’s message was challenged by an original protest coming from an NGO, which placed 12 giant inflatable balloons, with red crosses painted on them and symbolizing the 12 World Cup host cities, on Brazil’s most famous beach in Rio de Janeiro, Copacabana. A publicly funded World Cup in a country riddled with poverty is a moral problem, read a protest message in Portuguese and English.
The impressive 11 billion US dollars invested in organizing the World Cup, of which one-third spent on building or remodeling stadiums, has sparked criticism and brought thousands of Brazilians to the streets. They asked that these amounts be instead channeled into public services like transportation, healthcare and education. It seems that football, although hugely popular in Brazil, is no excuse for lavish expenses or for corruption.
In fact, corruption was discussed at the FIFA Congress that precedes each edition of the World Cup, with the main sponsors pressing for investigations into the questionable decision to hold the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The scandal adds to other questionable decisions that stain the popularity of this sport. In spite of these problems, Brazil promises the world a spectacular edition, and hopes for the 6th title in its history.
To do this, the host team would have to outperform defending champions Spain, as well as other powerful football nations like Germany, Italy or England. Smaller teams, like Portugal or Belgium, might also have surprising performances in this football cup. Experts however believe this World Cup is unlikely to offer many top-quality games. After an exhausting season with their clubs, many star players are worn-out or will miss the games altogether because of injuries.
As for Romania, its team has again failed to qualify into the final tournament. After its glory days of the 1990s, when it took part in three consecutive final tournaments with notable results, Romanian football is swamped in its own mediocrity.
