With the 2014 World Cup now less than a year away, Rio de Janeiro will throw open the doors to the world’s biggest sporting event. The 2014 World Cup in Brazil will kickoff in what is arguably the most soccer-mad country on the planet, inviting in guests from all across the globe.
But Saturday, a far smaller event – yet one no less critical to the success of Brazil 2014 – will get underway here in Brazil’s fantastical capital city. The Confederations Cup, the dry run for the World Cup, will begin with Brazil taking on Japan at the mammoth Estadio Nacional Mane Garrincha, then roll on to six other cities across this sprawling nation.
Brasilia seems like an apt place for this adventure to begin. A planned city created whole cloth out of the scrubland on the steppes, this strange and modernist city sums up both the nation’s ambitions and failures. An unquestioned architectural masterwork featuring buildings by Oscar Niemeyer, it is also considered something of a failed utopian experiment. While the buildings and the layout are stunning, it has been criticized as monumentally flawed: the parks can seem like arid wastes; there is little accounting for pedestrian traffic, and finding your way around the city requires knowledge of a byzantine code that replaced street names and building numbers.
But Brasilia, like Brazil, has matured. Those parks are slowly gaining flowers, and there are paths belatedly coming in for those without cars. And the same is true for a nation that is still working on solving some of the many problems that have plagued the World Cup in its run up.
Expenses have been massive. Corruption has been charged to be rampant, and the country was deeply embarrassed when the official re-opening of Rio de Janeiro’s fabled Maracana Stadium was nearly scuttled by a judge. That game, and England-Brazil friendly eventually went on amid concerns the building was still unfinished.
''I do believe we could have delivered them sooner to allow for the realization of more test events, which could have anticipated some of the problems that arose during those test events,'' Brazil Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo added. ''Apart from that, I believe that all requirements were executed in accordance with expectations and that we will have a Confederations Cup that will be held as expected.''
Here in Brasilia, crews are still working around the clock to get the basics up and running. Around the hulking Garrincha, crews were still trying to map out a “fan walk” to the arena that is little more than a footpath in the red clay. The airport is still being re-constructed and seems unable to handle vast crowds.
In fact, of the nearly 110 construction projects that were proposed around this tournament, only a small handful have been completed. Four stadiums remain only partially built, and some of the starrier-eyed plans for new monorails and high-speed bus lanes have simply not even been started.
Yet the cost for these preparations has already taken a huge bite out of the public coffers: the Garrincha’s retrofit cost a reported half billion dollars. Many observers have concluded that the World Cup preparations have been a cover for lining people’s pockets.
But the attitudes in Brazil, if anything, remain cautiously optimistic. Brazilians are weary of being portrayed as a crime-ridden “developing” nation – but are also showing hope that a successful hosting of the World Cup can change that. And positive signs are not hard to find.
Rio’s police have done a remarkable job in attacking the vast no-go zones in that city’s favelas. There has been a surge in demand for English-language teachers here ahead of the World Cup showing that the locals are eager to welcome world visitors. And while there is no question that preparations have dragged on far too long, there is a sense that Brazil, somehow, will be ready.
Some ills, however, remain yet to be addressed. Price gouging is rampant in Rio, and it is still considered unsafe to walk around city streets here after dark. Travel will also be an issue, with flight prices soaring due to two local airlines – TAM and Gol – holding a stranglehold on the market. Rio in particular has experience price inflation that will put the city in the ranks of Tokyo or New York according to local economic analysts.
''We have been monitoring transportation and urban mobility on a daily basis,'' Rebelo said. ''These works will be delivered in time, together with the next six stadiums. Airport, security, telecommunications and urban mobility will be ready and compatible with the expectations held by the country and by the world.''
And yet, in a year, the doors will open, and the world will visit. That 365-day sprint starts here, and starts now. And Brazil thinks they can beat the clock.
