Bem-vindo ao Brazil
"THE WORLD CUP OF ALL WORLD CUPS’. This is how this year’s World Cup is being referred to. This year, the World Cup takes place in Brazil, where football is not just a hobby, but it is a religion. Moreover, its underlies how much Brazil is under the gun, both due to its preparations (which were highly criticised during recent years for being slow paced), and even due to its national team. 12 years have passed since their last triumph in a World Cup, and in addition to this they want to replace the humiliation of 64 years ago by a triumph, when they had lost the final at the Maracana against Uruguay. That match is referred to as the "Maracanazo’, and it represents the lowest point in Brazilian football. So have a seat, and let the drama commence!
There will be 12 cities that will host the FIFA World Cup’s matches. The city that will commence this global tournament will be Sao Paolo. Its stadium, "Arena Corinthians’ (65,000 spectators) will host the opening ceremony followed by the inaugural match between Brazil and Croatia. This stadium created a lot of scepticism around the organizers due to some fatal incidents which happened throughout the preparations, and it is not the only stadium that has suffered some damage. Salvador is another city that will host the matches in its stadium, "Arena Fonte Nova’ (52,000 spectators). The "Arena Pernambuco’ (44,000 spectators) found in the city of Recife (the capital city of the Brazilian economy), is one of the 12 stadium which will host the matches as well. Porto Alegre is one of the most famous cities in Brazil due to its beautiful scenery and its stadium, "Estadio Beira-Rio’ (48,000 spectators) which is also the home of the famous Brazilian club, Internacional, will be one of the most attractive stadiums in Brazil. A curious fact about this area is that it has a subtropical climate, so an umbrella would be very useful for the supporters during the matches.
Apart from the stadiums that are already used by the Brazilian clubs, there will be stadiums that were constructed on purpose for the tournament. One of these stadiums is "Estadio Das Dunas’, (42,000 spectators) found in the city of Natal. Its main attraction is its surroundings, which take the form of flower petals. The organizers were aware of the fact that they had to reach all habitants and in fact, Manuas, which is found near the Amazonian rainforest, will host some matches as well, including the highly anticipated match between Italy and England; its stadium is called "Arena Amazonia’ (42,000 spectators). The city of Fortaleza, noted for its attractive beaches, will host the matches in its stadium "Estadio Castelao’ (52,000 spectators). Despite being late in its preparations, the city of Curitiba will be hosting the matches in its stadium "Arena Da Baixada’ which has a capacity of 41,000 spectators. It is not a surprising fact, that one of the stadiums is named after a Brazilian legend. This stadium is called "Estadio Nacional Mane Garrinchia’ (68,000 spectators) and it is settled in the capital city of Brazil, Brasilia. This stadium has already hosted some matches from the Confederations Cup which was held last summer. An important stadium, which will be hosting one of the semi-finals as well, is "Estadio Mineirao’ (57,000 spectators) and it is settled in the famous city of Belo Horizonte.
One has to leave the best for last, and naturally you cannot forget to mention the main attraction of all stadiums, the famous "Maracana’ (73,000 spectators). In the 1950 World Cup, the stadium had almost reached 120,000 spectators during the final between Brazil and Uruguay. This stadium is found in of the most beautiful cities in the world, Rio de Janeiro, which is characterised by the statue of Christ the Redeemer and the favelas found on the outskirts of the city, and it is no surprise that this stadium will host the final as well on the 13th of July.
With the World Cup just a few days away we are getting close to a hora da onca beber agua. Or in English, "the time that the jaguar drinks water’. The moment of truth for all organizers is getting near and they, together with the FIFA authority and the supporters as well, will be hoping that despite all the trouble they encountered throughout the preparations, their hard work will produce successful results…and for the organisers, hope that this will bring luck to their national team.