The Battle for World Cup 2014 Isn’t Over Yet
Brazil won their 2014 World Cup bid without any challenge, and it was all a bit easy. Like how Jan Koller must feel when he wins a header. But now competition is hotting up within Brazil to decided who will host the games. Rio de Janeiro is likely to stage the World Cup final, but there’s a fight going on to host the prestigious opening game. First punch has been thrown by the city of Brasilia, with governor Jose Roberto Arruda attacking the more likely host city of São Paulo with an extended metaphor. “São Paulo is sometimes like the older brother who had everything going for him,” said Arruda. “He has money, he studied, but he hasn’t got patience with the other brothers who haven’t had such a good life. It’s a certain show of arrogance. We want the opening game to be here because Brazil is not just Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.”
As I understand it the Estádio Mané Garrincha stadium in Brasilia will need some work done before it’s ready to host a World Cup game, and the city’s infrastructure (transport etc) will need a little work too. But if Arruda and co. can get it done on time there’s no reason Brasilia can’t host the all-important opening game. But surely hosting any World Cup game would be an honour, so maybe Brasilia don’t need to focus on the opening game so much.
The eyes of the world are on the host nation for a World Cup, so the Brazilian organizing committee will probably feel more comfortable holding the first game in the more famous city of São Paulo. Besides which, certain residents of the city could do with some feelgood football-related news after Corinthians were relegated to Serie B recently.
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Phil
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http://www.2014brazil.co.uk 2014 brazil
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aleksandar

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