Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff assured FIFA chief Sepp Blatter on Friday the country would be ready to host the 2014 World Cup, easing tensions over the slow pace of preparations for the finals.
Ricardo Teixeira has dominated Brazilian football for so long that, like many of the best players, he is known by just one name. They call him the cartola, literally the top hat, a title given to football bosses that instil respect and fear in equal measure and can carry more than a hint of shadiness.
Early Friday morning a DAP aircraft with over fifty passengers left Punta Arenas, extreme south of Chile, on a chartered flight for Santiago and then Mendoza, Argentina to be present at this evening’s Chile-Uruguay match for the Copa America.
Brazilian President Lula da Silva said on Tuesday he expects the four Mercosur countries Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay to meet in the semi-finals of the World Cup in South Africa.