MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Rousseff 'fed up' with Blatter; hopes Brazil win the Cup playing Argentina in the final match
Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff confessed on Thursday evening during dinner with journalists that she is fed up with FIFA chief Joseph Blatter and said the last chapter of protests in the Brazilian cities that will host the World Cup next month were a failure. Read full article
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May 17th, 2014 - 07:38 am - Link - Report abuse 0“ The Brazilian President said she looked forward for a victory over Argentina in the final match which is scheduled to be played 13 July at the Maracaná stadium in Rio do Janeiro.”
Renè and I say...:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8EEQrZBKoc
;-)
If there is one organisation more corrupt than governments then it is FIFA.
May 17th, 2014 - 08:29 am - Link - Report abuse 0Read Foul! The Secret World of Fifa; Bribes, Vote Rigging and Ticket Scandals by Andrew Jennings.....you will not believe the s**t that FIFA have got away with.
If it is a Brazil v Argentina final, then Argentina has it in the bag. They'll be so hyped about reaching the final whilst Brazilian nerves will fray........unless the home government fixes it a la 1978 Argentina v Peru
“ Likewise in another moment of the social meeting, Rousseff anticipated that with the opening match of the world event, an overall feeling of joy will take over the country and expected the Brazilian national team to win the Cup for the sixth time. ”
May 17th, 2014 - 09:15 am - Link - Report abuse 0What a climax of a statement. Almost sensual.
“ Would you like a cigarette ? ”
The stadium England are to play their match with Uruguay is apparently not finished and the contractors have said the roof will not be finished in time.
May 17th, 2014 - 11:38 am - Link - Report abuse 0It must be very annoying for Dilma to have Blatter reminding her constantly that she has failed to deliver.
Blatter has, at least admitted that awarding the World Cup Finals to Qatar was a mistake: 'Yes, it was a mistake of course, but one makes lots of mistakes in life.
'The technical report into Qatar said clearly it was too hot but the executive committee - with a large majority - decided all the same to play it in Qatar.'
He went on to say it will be held in the Winter but they won't be announcing it officially until after this World Cup Final in Brazil.
Personally, I think the tournament will be a success even if it is played in unfinished stadia with riots outside and numerous incidents of muggings. Most of the world will be watching from a distance in the comfort of their own homes and focused on the footie. Once the tournament begins it will be all about the men running around on grass chasing a ball.
Though, the news coverage building up to the event has certainly dispelled the myth the Brazil is close to being a developed country. It has had the opposite effect that the government of Brazil had hoped for when bidding for these huge events.
This has certainly highlighted divisions within Brazil/Brazilian society.
May 17th, 2014 - 11:55 am - Link - Report abuse 0I still find it amazing that here in the USA nobody cares about the World Cup. Soccer is gaining popularity but is really a fringe sport with the events mostly attended by latino immigrants.
May 17th, 2014 - 12:01 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I can't see it ever becoming a serious sport here.
Yes, the crooked Lula (of silver, of course it's really greenbacks) knew what he was doing: got all the plaudits and Dima gets the problems!
May 17th, 2014 - 12:26 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Ain't life a bitch for ex-terrorists who didn't know anything about the murder that her cell did (on her behalf, no doubt).
Yes, Brazil have fallen far and hard in the “First World Country” race, probably on a par with North Korea.
@6 Yes, it isn't really that popular in the U.S. despite it being the most popular sport in the world with 3.5 billion fans. I think it is because there are no breaks for at least 45 minutes each half thus making it unattractive for advertisers. Advertising drives US sport. Although, I did read that there are to be 'water breaks' in the matches at this World Cup and advert breaks will be had. I hope this is a wind up.
May 17th, 2014 - 12:42 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Isn't Baseball the national sport in the U.S.? Invented by, and first played in England. When I first attended a baseball game (I am a huge fan of cricket so was very excited) I soon realised the real reason fans go to the games is to consume as much food and drink as it humanly possible and then leave before the end, or before they barfed, I assume. I couldn't believe it. I was there to the bitter end and loved every moment. I even managed to last on one small snack, plus a few drinks. :)
Stream of memories.
May 17th, 2014 - 12:49 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Beside that flower
the whisper of
a delicate ray
touches the margin
described by the
first light: there,
in the garden,
near the youth
of a fine rose.
Francesco Sinibaldi
8. I don't regularly go to sporting events nor pay any attention to them. They're all too long and boring for me.
May 17th, 2014 - 12:52 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@10 Fair enough. I really enjoy attending sporting events probably more for the social aspect but the greatest game ever invented is cricket IMO.
May 17th, 2014 - 01:07 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Going back to Blatter's statement “Yes, it was a mistake of course, but one makes lots of mistakes in life”. It beggars belief that he casually writes off massive cock-ups as a minor mistake. It wasn't a mistake like getting a Kevin Keegan perm in the 70's or attending a Justin Bieber concert . He is responsible for one of the biggest sporting occasions in the world! Twit.
The communist Brazilian Workers Party (PT) of dilma hates criticism. She is not interested in World Cup, she is only interested in robbing the country and anyone criticising is “crazy”.
May 17th, 2014 - 02:05 pm - Link - Report abuse 0You must all come to England for the Rugby World Cup next year 2015.
May 17th, 2014 - 02:07 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Come on England!
@13 I love rugby. : )
May 17th, 2014 - 02:34 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Yankee, yes football will never be popular in the US. Rugby fans find your game amusing. And we call Baseball rounders, a game kids play at school. The USA is so insular in so many ways and way out of step with the rest of the world. And, it proved itself ignorant of world affairs, hence Afghanistan and Iraq. But, its a great country in so many ways with so many nice generous people.
May 17th, 2014 - 06:02 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@6
May 17th, 2014 - 09:34 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Who cares about the opinion of an American in the rest of the world??
Answer: http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/empty-stadium-aviva-16817477.jpg
The solution here is simple: ban the EUians from the World Cup. No one needs them. The world cup is an Argentine-Uruguayan concept anyway, it worked fined in 1930, it was the stupid Euros that came butting in to OUR tournament after that.
Kick them out no one will miss them. EVERY and all the best players people want to see are South American anyway. I sure never have paid a ticket to see a European player.
16. Your meds are off. Go to a Doctor and get them rebalanced. You've said nothing but craziness the last couple of weeks.
May 17th, 2014 - 10:23 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Ouch, the above was the truth huh, no comeback no links no effort no attempt not even a lie.
May 17th, 2014 - 10:26 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Truth is in short: when it comes to the World Cup, American opinions are worth a $3 bill, and Euro players are just utter filler.
Hurts, I know, but it's reality.
Toby, you obviously like the concept of watching thick millionaires kicking an inflated pigs bladder around a field. Its a concept invented by Charles 1st of England to keep the peasants from rioting on Sundays, NOT the Latin euro squatters currently squatting in SA. If the only things you are good at are f9tball and the Tango that explains why your whole country's GDP is less than that of London. Keep taking the tablets
May 17th, 2014 - 10:42 pm - Link - Report abuse 018
May 17th, 2014 - 10:44 pm - Link - Report abuse 0So one country can kick a ball around a field better than another....
Great talent.....try discovering penicillin or maybe inventing a television or telephone..
Football...WGAF....
@16
May 17th, 2014 - 10:44 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I thought the original World Cup in 1930 was instigated by the Frenchman, Jules Rimet, who was president of FIFA at the time and the cup was subsequently, post war I think, named after him but if you know better I would appreciate a reference to your source.
@19
May 17th, 2014 - 10:56 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Wrong, football was invented by the Mayans and b) I was talking about the World Cup.
London GDP? 540 Billion, just slightly bigger, with 16 MILLION people and billions in stolen treasure from OTHER PEOPLE from all over the world as seen in every museum in that city.
Not really that impressive. Buenos Aires GDP with 14 million must be about 150-180 billion. For huge cities to have GDP in the hundreds of billions is EXPECTED.
@21
The concept was to make a larger COPA America, which at the time had gotten terribly stale as football was then like rugby today (7-8 countries that can really play the rest utter shit), and back then it was Uruguay and Argentina maybe Chile (yes over Brazil at the time). We made the mistake of suggesting (NOT inviting) European participation and then Jules Rimet said the name of the tournament would have to be changed. The compromise was then to have this new tourney in Uruguay not in Europe, because they were the reigning Olympic gold medallists.
@22
May 17th, 2014 - 11:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Thank ou for the info regarding the origins of the World Cup.
However, the FIFA website seems to disagree with you.
I quote “Following a remarkable proposal by the Executive Committee, the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam on 28 May 1928 decided to stage a world championship organised by FIFA. Now, the organising country had to be chosen. Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden submitted their candidatures. Right from the start, Uruguay was the favourite and not simply for its Olympic gold medal wins in 1924 and 1928 - the country was celebrating its 100th anniversary of independence in 1930.” - no mention of a suggestion from Argentina/Uruguay that European teams might participate in a version of COPA America.
but if you have a link giving your version of events I would be pleased to read it.
Toby, I couldn't care less about soccer. In the USA it is only played by young girls and latino immigrants.
May 18th, 2014 - 12:23 am - Link - Report abuse 0I could care less what my maid's family does on her day off.
@23
May 18th, 2014 - 02:51 am - Link - Report abuse 0FIFA has rewritten history to glorify European involvement in the process. More BS history from the loser Euros. I trust a European history book as much as an American one, in other words, I trust it as good toilet paper.
@24
And your opinion matters because...
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.
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.
.
Thought so.
@14 ElaineB
May 18th, 2014 - 09:17 am - Link - Report abuse 0So many “nicks” are used here but I will assume you are, indeed, a lady and therefore as you say you love rugby I enquire whether you also “love” rugby players?
@22 The Mayan thing doesn't count because it involved getting an object through a hoop, not into a goal. Besides, it's only theory because you murdered them all.
May 18th, 2014 - 09:19 am - Link - Report abuse 0You forgot to mention that the “Buenos Aires” you referred to is the province, not the city.
Isn't it curious how your latam players come to join clubs in Europe? Do you think that they come to learn that (a) it's a game and (b) it has rules? Amazing how many rules latam “players” break. Still, maybe next time around, we'll see how you get on when 10 members of your “team” are carried off with broken legs!
Yankee.....
May 18th, 2014 - 10:14 am - Link - Report abuse 0I can't see Football (soccer for you) ever becoming a big professional sport in the USA or Canada. You guys already had a national sport both for winter and summer already when Football became popular world wide. Nevertheless Football “the beautiful game”- “Jogo bonito” is by far, even light years the most intense, technical, passionately exquisite game in the world. It's like a 90 minute chess game played at full gallop. It's so dope that if you ever played it, it soon would have you addicted. I won't miss a match this world cup, and I pray that this time we'll shock everyone.
28. The US Soccer organization spends millions putting Soccer on TV and trying to introduce it to school aged children. They've been doing it for years with little success.
May 18th, 2014 - 10:47 am - Link - Report abuse 0We just don't care about it.
We think it is a game for girls and poor people.
Let the Simpson's explain it for me:
http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/just_plain_stupid/Simpsons_Explain_Soccer/#302049
@25
May 18th, 2014 - 10:54 am - Link - Report abuse 0so in other words you can't prove your claims - what a surprise
Aha good to see Nostrils vainly attempting to rewrite history.
May 18th, 2014 - 11:17 am - Link - Report abuse 0Soccer was codified in England not by the Mayans. I think he needs to do a little more research into Ōllamaliztli.
Perhaps soccer, I mean football, is based on Marn Grook. As one of the oldest continuing civilisations in the world and older than all human settlement in the Americas, perhaps it was an Aboriginal ball game that predates all others.
It's a moot point because it wasn't codified until the English did it. Not the Argentineans. Actually not anyone in the Americas. Codified after Aussie Rules though.
As for the shambolic Copa América having founded the World Cup. Don't make me laugh. I've heard delusions before but nothing like that. The Copa América couldn't even be held for 5 years after the inaugural World Cup, there was supposedly 2 held in 1959 and then nothing for 8 years from 1967. This is not the competition that formed the World Cup.
As for London's GDP. It's estimated at US$750 billion. Not bad for all that stealing. After stealing all that land from the natives and then stealing from all the tax from provinces, the best BsAs could do is about US$191. Less than what 5 million Melburnians seem capable of.
Not only does Nostril's opinions not matter, but even his facts are wrong. But then again he's never been capable of arguing anyway.
@26 “I enquire whether you also “love” rugby players?”
May 18th, 2014 - 11:18 am - Link - Report abuse 0Only on a very small scale. : )
@28 Yes, it will never be that big in the USA. They already have Baseball, inherited from England, and American Football which is a less free-flowing game of rugby played with 40lbs of padding.
Association Football will never be big in the USA unless they can find a way of working 10 minute breaks into it for adverts. Money drives sport in the US.
However, close to 25 million in the US watched the last W.C. Final and it is expected to rise by 50% for the Brazil tournament. Only a relatively small percentage of the billion expected to watch across the world but still growing in popularity. This is in no small part due to the broadcasting of the Premiership season for the last three years.
Will it ever overtake American football or baseball? I doubt it very much but it still remains that the two most popular sports in the world are cricket and football.
TTT is so desperate for validation he makes all kinds of shit up.
25MM growing to 37MM, that's probably about the size of the immigrant population in the USA including those from EU UK Asia and the rest of the world with the majority being Latino.
May 18th, 2014 - 11:44 am - Link - Report abuse 0That seems about right.
I wonder if the Soccer Association is paying to have it televised here?
@33 I know you are trying to make a point but soccer is not ONLY popular with Latinos.
May 18th, 2014 - 11:51 am - Link - Report abuse 0Do you dislike all Latinos?
@33
May 18th, 2014 - 12:57 pm - Link - Report abuse 0As much as you dislike it or not, the United States now has the second largest Hispanic population in the world.
And that's good. Will bring it over the continent in which it is located.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dFrkqCcEnk&index=12&list=LLmXPTu1f8AdGlizWNiASx2A
34. Elaine, As much as you may think you know the USA. You are a liberal foreigner you'll never understand us.
May 18th, 2014 - 02:31 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I grew up here have lots of friends and family. I don't know ANYONE except latinos that follow Soccer. My sister's kids play( 4 and 6) , friends kids play ( all young girls) but no American adult watches the professional games unless they lived in europe or something and caught the bug.
I don't hate anyone.
Let's see?
May 18th, 2014 - 02:33 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Canada in the North.
Mexico in the South.
The US has a large Hispanic Community, nothing wrong with that, the US is a Nation of diverse peoples, the richer for it.
Ever wonder why that large Hispanic Community headed North and not South?
Why the Canadians do not head South?
I suspect it was because they wanted a better life for themselves and their families.
Nothing wrong with that either.
Elaine, see graphs:
May 18th, 2014 - 02:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/02/which-sports-have-the-whitest-richest-oldest-fans/283626/
Major League Soccer has the highest share of Hispanics by far (34 percent; second is the NBA at 12 percent) and the lowest income of any major sports audience. Nearly 40 percent of its fans make less than $40k.
@36 “no American adult watches the professional games unless they lived in europe or something and caught the bug. ” Careful, you are starting to sound like TTT.
May 18th, 2014 - 02:40 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I don't live in the US. I do have a lot of friends living there. They are adults, American and some of them love soccer. I agree that the love for the game is also enjoyed by immigrants other than from Latin America. That was my point. It is not only girls and Latino immigrants.
A lot of girls also enjoy American football and baseball.
I never said you hated anyone.
Yankee.
May 18th, 2014 - 02:49 pm - Link - Report abuse 0What about American Italians, Germans, Dutch, Swedes, Norwegians, Irish etc.
Have they lost the bug.
I would have that the Italian Americans in particular might still possess some love for the game, given their former countries relative success at it.
As for me, I was once a Soccer fan but now all the money generated by it ruins it for me, no one plays it for right reasons anymore.
I hope Rugby does not go the same way. It's happening, slowly but surely. I suppose the one saving grace is that it does not have that big a following.
@20 - I have to agree with you here. Football is one of those inventions (as already pointed out above) to keep the masses amused and occupied. I happily enjoy watching and playing a game though, but the money envolved is quite embarrassing for humanity IMO.
May 18th, 2014 - 02:51 pm - Link - Report abuse 0It would be good to see more attention paid to who's running the world and our nations than which football team will win the league. Overall though I hope it will be an entertaining World Cup, and I hope there's no loss of life or violent crime committed against the fans.
There are games of football played in the UK between village communities, that are sometimes miles apart and have hundreds on each side, men and women today, played between them since medieval times.
May 18th, 2014 - 03:03 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Of course, the rules are not has they are in todays game. The ball starts at a point in the middle, the one thing similiar to today,what ever team gets the ball by whatever means to a point in the opponents village, a bridge, church or an inn, is the winner.
Treated very seriously by those concerned, lots of fun and lots of injuries but a good piss up afterwards.
I guess what I should have said is I don't know one upper/ middle class American who was born here that follows profrssional soccer.
May 18th, 2014 - 04:28 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Yes there may be a few as shown by the link I provided but I've never met one.
@32 “
May 18th, 2014 - 04:28 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Association Football will never be big in the USA unless they can find a way of working 10 minute breaks into it for adverts. Money drives sport in the US.”
That's an understatement. I remember watching a super bowl once and was blabbergasted at the amount of ads there. Less than 1 minute of play and ten minutes of ads later. They don't even put them at the same time as the game. Not to mention the ridiculous length of a game, as long or even longer than tennis. It's just pure greed, it's not like real football isn't full of ads already but the Americans have to make the game 90% ads.
But the real reason the Americans won't play football is that they call it soccer. That name sounds stupid, that's why only girls play it in USA. No adult would play a game with that stupid name.
I guess what I should have said is I don't know one upper/ middle class American who was born here that follows profrssional soccer.
May 18th, 2014 - 04:28 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Yes there may be a few as shown by the link I provided but I've never met one.
@45 There is a class element to Association Football I will grant you that. Rugby is a thugs game played by gentlemen and football is a gentlemen's game played by thugs - goes the saying. Rugby tend to be played in independent and grammar schools and football in state schools. But like all generalisations, it isn't entirely true. The younger generations tend to support across sports and across classes. A good move, I think. Our own Prince William is President of the FA and a keen fan.
May 18th, 2014 - 05:05 pm - Link - Report abuse 0American Football has been laughed at here as 'rugby for sissies' but a lot of the training is very similar. American Football is growing in popularity in the U.K. and a couple of the big teams come over here to play pre-season. I find the stop/start just too disjointed to get up too much enthusiasm but I have friends that enjoy and play it.
I have a few friends in D C that play Association Football too and I wouldn't call any of them lower class but it makes for an interesting discussion the next time I see them. :)
The reason I have gone off football has everything to do with what it has become, a money earner.
May 18th, 2014 - 05:07 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Take Manchester United, the team with the greatest number of supporters world wide. They change their strips two or three times a year, keeping to the basic formula, colour.
Why, for paractical reasons? Not a bit of it.
Each time they do it, kids all over the world, boys and girls want the latest kit. Not a cheap knock off but the real thing from the MU franchise.
So their parents fork out £80 or $150 dollars a time, every time.
That's why they change them. Nothing but a money making money scam.
@47 I agree but I cannot see it going back to players being in it for the love of the game. I would like to see limits on the number of overseas players per team but, again, I doubt it would garner much support from the sponsors.
May 18th, 2014 - 05:39 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Look at the World Cup Finals. Blatter as good as said the country that bribes and put on political pressure gets the tournament. There can be no other explanation for Qatar being chosen.
Incidentally, I heard that parents are rebelling against the £90 cost of an England shirt. The problem is the makers know full well the power of a whining child.
Amen to that, thank the lord I had girls, love em to bits. Though I think they got upset when I refered to them has number one and number two son, a joke between me and my wife. Breeze in from work after a particularly nasty day, “where's number one son?”. Wind them up something chronic!
May 18th, 2014 - 05:53 pm - Link - Report abuse 0They went through the football phase, playing it that is. Boots and kit etc.
Not very good at, still at least they had the choice and opportunity to play the game.
Number one son now married to an ardent MU supporter, he and his father actually attend their games, we live in Norfolk. Surprise, surprise, she never was before she met the lad!
That's why I like watching the women's football teams play in internationals, okay, I know they come from women's professional teams but at least their hearts are in it and it is obvious why they play for their country.
Their enthusiasm is palpable, the men could learn from them.
Then again, hasn't that always the case!
Lol.
Brazil better win this WC, for Rouseff will be in a lot of trouble if with all the money that has being spending on it and all the infrastructure deficits that protestors have being complaining about they go ahead and loose this tournament. It has already being a total lose economically for Brazil.
May 18th, 2014 - 05:59 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I think that after this Brazilian embarrassment it will be very difficult for 3rd world countries to host these kind of mega sporting events here after, un less they promise to keep it simple and humble.
The kind of race of showing off ever bigger stadiums, infrastructure and inauguration parties each four years in the Olympics and WC is one that developing countries cant no longer afford to play and it is doing them no good.
I think we are all missing the main point here. Yes, I suppose the Brazilians would like to win the title but there is a far, far more political Agenda for them here.
May 18th, 2014 - 06:22 pm - Link - Report abuse 0That is, that for however many weeks the competition lasts, the eyes of the world, through modern media technology, will be on Brazil and the Brazilians.
It's not just the people who travel there to participate that will come away with opinions of Brazil. It is every single person who turns on their television set, tunes in their radio, every single person who reads a newspaper.
That by far is more important politically than winning the title, winning would be the icing on the cake but a positive opinion of the tournament will bring far, far more benefits, international benefits, for Brazil.
I suppose what I am saying, is they have chosen to put themselves under the microscope of international opinion and that opinion is worth more than a football trophy, which in four years time might belong to someone else.
I wish them success.
It was part of the desire of Lula to portrait Brazil’s inauguration as a new superpower by hosting both the Olympics and WC.
May 18th, 2014 - 06:30 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Poor Rousseff is simply given the burden of seeing it through. Its already a failure when you have cops and the army falling all over the favelas and trying to keep up appearances, plus all the protests they had last year and the current one.
After this there is not much you can fail more from…
What good has the 2010 WC done for South Africa?? What has the 2004 Olympic games in Athens done for Greece. People have already forgotten them.
What was the opinion of South Africa before 2010, do you recall all the stories how SA was the murder capital of the world, how no one would be safe going there, how fans would be robbed, raped etc. I do.
May 18th, 2014 - 06:53 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Do you recall the pictures of those bloody silly trumpets they were all blowing.
Do you recall the images of the South Africans, Black and White enjoying themselves with people's from all over the world.
2010 was a resounding success for South Africa, it dispelled all the preconceptions of the country, it's problems and it showed he world what they were capable of. Okay, South Africa may not have econimicaly benefitted to a great scale but I rather suspect their were benefits.
As for Greece, nice to hold the centenary there, I agree with you, it was a mistake and who paid for it? The Greeks.
All I am saying is that a successful tournament such has this, in the eyes of the world, will bring more prestige to Brazil, more than winning any cup will.
The cup is secondary to the prestige.
You are cutting to gross. Brazil has a far more robust middle class that is demanding both quantity and quality improvement of infrastructure and public services than SouthAfrica does.
May 18th, 2014 - 07:08 pm - Link - Report abuse 0South Africa got only back a tenth of the money it invested
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/leisure/8192484/South-Africa-recoups-just-a-tenth-of-the-3bn-cost-of-staging-World-Cup-2010.html
And Brazils world cup is costing 14,5 Billion USD, South Africa WC coasted a fourth of what Brazil has invested. Brazil has the need of major investments in infrastructure in the rest of the country’s interior as it has a very negative geography.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/leisure/8192484/South-Africa-recoups-just-a-tenth-of-the-3bn-cost-of-staging-World-Cup-2010.html
The countries that host these events are just leaded by populist idiots.
@46 ElaineB
May 18th, 2014 - 07:46 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I think you should revise your social perception of Rugby Football. In Wales and the English West Country together with the Borders of Scotland Rugby Union has always been a “working mans” sport and since the sport became professional several years ago players throughout the world, including the UK, no longer come only from privileged social backgrounds. Rugby League has always, of course, been a working mans sport!
Disagree.
May 18th, 2014 - 08:05 pm - Link - Report abuse 0In Wales there are no social boundaries. It may have started that way, but now it does not matter who you are or where your from. There are labourers, solicitors, doctors all playing gods game.
All that matters is that you can play, not just play, but play with style.
Come to that, does not matter which country you come from, if you can play with style, your a picture to behold! Poetry in motion,! A gift from the gods appreciated by the people of gods country. Wales of course!
Seriously though, win, lose or draw a good game of rugby is a thing to behold.
What's Rugby League, spit, spit, spit, yuck!
@46 “But like all generalisations, it isn't entirely true. The younger generations tend to support across sports and across classes. ” I was pointing out the perception and how it has changed. If you don't think these stereotypes exist I am surprised.
May 18th, 2014 - 08:29 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Although, state schools in general dropping rugby for being too rough and cricket for being elitist (therefore making it elitist) a generation ago was a huge mistake IMO. Fortunately club rugby and cricket was available for all.
Elaine
May 18th, 2014 - 09:04 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Ever been to a Rugby Club in Wales? most towns, villages have them. In smaller areas they are the social centres, replacing the chapels of years gone by.
You will find all classes there and all talking about one thing. How the first, second , third and Colt teams are doing. In Wales Rugby transcends social boundries, it's a social leveller.
Calling Rugby a game in Wales is like using a four letter word!
I wish I could convey what the Wales, Engand fixture means to us. Men and Women. The meeting with the arch enemy!
People take holidays, days off, throw stickies, men absent themselves from the birth of their child, crime stops and the streets empty.
Win, lose or draw for days afterwards the conversation is about the match, about fantastic play, even English play. An English try can be a thing of beauty and a pleasure to behold, let's face it over the years their has been some wonderful matches. Hate it when they win though, but there it is and the onevthing you can never escape. The best team always wins and there is always next year!
@58 LOL! Yes, I know how it is with rugby in Wales. :)
May 19th, 2014 - 07:58 am - Link - Report abuse 0@ 12 Macsilviho -
May 19th, 2014 - 09:59 am - Link - Report abuse 0A few helpful clarifications to your post.
1.) The Communist Party in Brasil is known as the CPB. It is relatively small, disorganized, and with an insignificant electoral result.
2.) The PT, which began in 1980 as a result of the military junta, is not a communist party. Officially it is left-wing. It can be described as Socialist, Marxist, Radical Socialist, or Radical Democracy, but not communist.
3.) When then President Lula first proposed that Dilma Rousseff, his Chief of Staff succeed him as the next President of Brasil, she was not then a member of the PT. She joined when she started campaigning.
4.) Yes, she inherited the World Cup, which we hope is ultimately a success. The outcome of her management of this World class event will impact her re-election.
Thus far her wimpy expected competition looks dull and lackluster, reminding me at times of our “ Jango ” or President João Goulart,
That disaster culminated in the military coup d'état we had in 1964.
Pelé, who I understand knows rather more about football than Rouseff, has said that Uruguay worries him more than Argentina. Maracaná 2?
May 19th, 2014 - 11:37 pm - Link - Report abuse 061
May 20th, 2014 - 03:02 am - Link - Report abuse 0That would be mostly due to physiology...
Brazil will have a big chip over their shoulders whenever they cross Uruguay in the tournament. It would be much more forgiving if they get knocked out by Argentina a first class rival.... but not Uruguay.
Physiology has a lot to do, that explains a lot of River Plate traumas of the past have being overcome when a team beat the ghost of the past and now is the champion of the final tournament
True Trolo @ 22
May 20th, 2014 - 07:25 am - Link - Report abuse 0At last you've got something right. Last paragraph in post Number 22. But why do you have to say it in such an angry, resentful manner?
So Rousseff has wet dreams about Brazilian beating Argentina? We dream of beating Argentina too. It would be vastly more enjoyable than beating Brazil.
@ 63 ynsere
May 20th, 2014 - 05:38 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Everything crossed that I can, that we DO beat Argentina! :o)
Beating Brazil though would be the icing on the cake.
Current Odds are Germany at 5/1 and brazil at 3/1 (favourite).
May 23rd, 2014 - 06:24 am - Link - Report abuse 0Seeing as England are on 28/1 I might have a cheeky bet on Germany, naughty I know, but never underestimate zee Germans!
Dilma is pissed-off with Blatter ?? why ?? for pointing out the Brazilian Government's incompetence in preparing for the Cup ?? she should pissed-of at Lula, who handed her this “abacaxi” (pronounced “abacashi”), a common expression in Brazil, used to designate a problem, due to the discomfort in handling a pineapple due to the razor-sharp foliage on the top. Her political future depends on the outcome, because if Brazil does not win the Cup, all the protests regarding the mispending of billions of dollars, will come back even stronger, to bite her, and the PT, in the arse.
May 24th, 2014 - 06:10 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@37 reality check.....dead on. The fact that the migration in the Americas has always been south to north, and not the other way round, says it all.
Jack @ 66.
May 25th, 2014 - 12:45 am - Link - Report abuse 0Very well put.
Dilma is pissed off with Blatter and large segments of the population are pissed off with Dilma.
Dilma is betting the farm on a successful outcome in the football.
May 25th, 2014 - 02:01 am - Link - Report abuse 0A very risky strategy in my book.
I sincerely believe that regardless of which country wins the Cup, Dilma will be re-elected. Not a nice thought...BUT, on the other hand, let's speculate that Brazil loses (in the final, and to the Argies), and Dilma loses, the country she'll be handing to her successor, will be one big mess. The new president will, first have to clean out all the 'petistas' in all levels of the Federal Government - if not, they will sabotage any attempt to get things back on track ; then, the new president will need to assess the damage caused in all sectors over the last 12 years, before they can even start to administer the economy. Things will obviously get worse before they get better, but during this time, the PT will be extremely vociferous in pointing out the mess, “caused by the ”new“ government” ....that's how the PT works. So, perhaps it IS best that the fat b*tch wins, so that when the country implodes, it's on the PT's watch, and the people may then see the PT for what they really are....a bunch of criminals.
May 25th, 2014 - 09:28 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Jack @ 69
May 26th, 2014 - 12:07 am - Link - Report abuse 0Change the names, and it could be Uruguay.
Hosting the World Cup or the Olympic Games is not about profits or having the World Cup winning team.
May 26th, 2014 - 01:16 am - Link - Report abuse 0It is more of a statement about prestige, and prestige and indirectly respect as an emerging nation. When we campaigned for both, we were saying we have had good teams, continue to be soccer ( futebol ) crazy, and that we could do it, meaning the financial means to build and thus having arrived as a world power.
That ultimately will transcend whatever political party is, or was in power at the time. That it was granted was due largely to the energetic efforts of former President Lula, and his campaign teams.
According to an article in Veja, our weekly magazine, about 97 % of the World Cup facilities are being built using public funds. The resulting public protest that current President Dilma is facing is about that fact. Her current popularity is at least twice that of her political rivals. What happens and how her administration handles the protestors, and any after effects of the games, will decide if she is re-elected or not.
But she will not be put in a small boat without a sail, oars, or motor off Guanabara Bay, if our World cup team loses.
@ 70 ynsere
May 26th, 2014 - 10:43 am - Link - Report abuse 0You beat me to it!
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