Brazil celebrated wildly after being chosen to host the World Cup, a chance for the “sleeping giant” of 200 million to show its growing sporting, but also economic, prowess.
Seven years on, with just 100 days left till kick-off, the host nation is racing against the clock to be ready for the greatest sporting show on Earth starting June 12.
Stadium delays and security concerns fueled by protests at corruption and poor public facilities have served to dampen the initial enthusiasm both of Brazilians — fans and government alike — and FIFA.
For former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, hosting the extravaganza for the first time in 64 years was a dream ambition — a chance to erase the nightmare of a 1950 final loss to Uruguay.
But just as importantly he saw it as a chance to project the country onto the forefront of the world stage.
Fast forward to the final frenetic months of preparations and Brazil is straining every sinew to be ready after FIFA president Sepp Blatter slammed the hosts for starting preparations too late.
“Brazil has come to realize that they started too late. They are the country who are the most delayed since I have been at FIFA,” Blatter told Swiss newspaper 24 Hours in early January.
“Yet they are the only country who have had such a long time — seven years — to prepare.”
Half of the 12 stadiums missed FIFA’s December 31 deadline to be ready and three suffered fatal accidents and five have still to be delivered.
A huge revamp of Brazil’s chronically saturated airports and transport upgrades have also fallen way behind schedule in a country known for a sunny disposition where things happen late if they happen at all.
Add threats of fresh public protests against the cost of staging the event — around $11 billion — and there is no shortage of negative headlines for current President Dilma Rousseff in what she hopes is a re-election year.
“One of the negatives regarding the organization of the World Cup in Brazil is improvization,” says Jose Carlos Marques, professor of Sao Paulo University’s (Unesp) Sports Observatory.
“It’s a cultural issue to believe that everything can be done at the last minute, without planning but that all will be resolved through Brazilian hospitality and warmth,” Marques told AFP.
The protests at the cost of the event have seen marchers chanting “there will be no Cup” in the streets as they demand more public investment instead in areas such as transport and education.
