RIO DE JANEIRO, June 27 — As the second week of the 2014 Brazil World Cup comes to an end, the fear that the competition would turn into a disaster of gigantic proportions fades into a distant memory.
The violent protests, strikes, transportation chaos, unfinished stadiums and natural disasters that threatened to overshadow the event have not materialized.
Not that the World Cup has been devoid of problems. Brazil is facing a couple of natural disasters, one of them somewhat serious, but the World Cup has not been adversely affected, at least not to the extent that was expected by the more pessimistic.
One of the main concerns was the possibility of the country being swept up by violent protests, as happened during the 2013 Confederations Cup.
At the time, the streets of Brazil’s major cities were overrun by hundreds of thousands of protesters (in Rio, reportedly over a million) calling for better public healthcare, education and urban transportation services, and denouncing massive public spending on the World Cup. Many Cup-related urban infrastructure
projects that were promised were never delivered.
Given the scope of last year’s protests, it was not an exaggerated concern, but so far the mass riots in Brazil’s streets have not come to pass.
Though there have been protests, some of them rather large and even violent, they cannot be compared to last year’s. Protests have been waning since the beginning of the tournament and have not marred most recent matches.
Strikes, which brought chaos to Brazil’s largest cities Rio and Sao Paulo in the weeks before the World Cup, have not been a problem either.
Transportation & Security problems
Chaos in transportation was another concern, as many of the renovations at Brazil’s airports were not finished in time for the World Cup, and several projects, such as new subway lines, express bus lanes and trams, have also not been fully completed.
But so far, reports of transportation problems have been few, as fans were instructed to arrive as early as possible at stadiums, and many host cities declared match days to be holidays, thus reducing the number of people in the streets.
A view of the Maracanà stadium, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
There have been a few security problems at venues, especially in Rio, where the first two matches to take place at the world-renowned Maracana Stadium were invaded by fans without tickets.
After that, world soccer body FIFA and the World Cup organizer accepted the help of local police in stadium security, in addition to its own stewards, whose number was also increased.
Security in general has been bolstered for matches, such as the finals at Maracana, which several heads of state are expected to attend.
In one of the host cities, Natal, in Brazil’s northeastern region, severe storms led to mudslides that left over 100 families homeless and damaged several neighborhoods. However, the disaster had little effect on the World Cup matches hosted by the city.
Parana state, whose capital Curitiba is hosting Cup matches, faced major floods that affected over one million people, but they are concentrated in other regions of the state, and have not affected the tournament.
On the field, Brazil’s World Cup has featured a lot of surprises and thrills, with three European World Cup champions – Spain, England and four-time winner Italy – being sent home in the initial group round.
Meanwhile, against all odds, Costa Rica qualified for the round of 16, despite facing a Group of Death,
featuring three world champions.
Americas will be highly represented in the knockout stage with Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Uruguay having qualified after the group matches.
The World Cup has had a high goal average per match and featured a lot of new records. German player Miroslav Klose scored his 15th goal in World Cups, tying the record set by Brazil’s Ronaldo.
And for the first time, an African team scored four times in the same match at a World Cup, when Algeria beat South Korea 4-2 on Sunday.
— BERNAMA-NNN-XINHUA
