Jerome Valcke says Brazil have lots of work ahead
Road to Brazil 2014 begins
Posted: 2010-07-12 17:40
South Africa can be proud to have successfully hosted the first World Cup on African soil and are now passing the baton to Brazil, a country facing similar challenges to what Mzansi experienced.
The South Americans have unveiled the official emblem of the 2014 World Cup as they embark on a four-year journey in preparation for the event.
The official emblem for the Fifa 2014 World Cup was unveiled in the presence of Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Fifa president Sepp Blatter, as well as former Selecao players Cafu, Carlos Alberto Torres, Romario and Fifa World Cup-winning coach Carlos Alberto Parreira.
Fifa general-secretary Jerome Valcke admitted that Brazil face similar challenges to South Africa, saying they are way off the mark currently in regard to preparations.
“We are going to work on the main problems in Brazil. We have to build the stadiums, the airports, the roads, put in place a telecommunications system and so on, but we will make sure everything is alright,” Valcke said.
Fifa president Sepp Blatter has rated South Africa 9/10, saying had it not been for Bafana Bafana’s exit in the first round he could have been tempted to rate the organization of the tournament 10/10. “Things can never be perfect… perfection doesn’t exist,” Blatter noted.
“At the end of the Fifa Confederations Cup I gave the Local Organising Committee a 7.5/10 rating and they were disappointed, but now it is 9/10 and I’m sure they are happy,” said Blatter, drawing some big grins from LOC chairman Irvin Khoza and CEO Danny Jordaan, two men who were at the forefront of planning the tournament since South Africa won the bid on 15 May 2004.
Have you discussed this topic on Team KICK OFF? Click Here...
: 2010-07-12 23:42
Comment on this article:
TERMS OF USE: The comments posted below do not reflect the views of KickOff.com. Users are reminded that no misuse of this comment facility will be tolerated. Any abusive, racist or inflammatory comments will be deleted and the user banned. Please report abusive posts to editor@kickoff.com