Basic HTML Version
8 • Touchline • Issue 18
t was supposed to be the greatest tournament of them all. Brazil, famous for football and flair, was hosting the World Cup after
64 years. FIFA suits clinked glasses, knowing they would be sure to get the pictures they needed to make the $5.5 billion circus
bring The Gospel of Football to more converts. The Brazilian government congratulated themselves for having been the team
that brought the tournament back. And, for a while, the ordinary people of Brazil enjoyed the glow of being in the epicentre of
something colossal.
The vision was easy to sell. When it comes to national clichés - samba, slums, beaches and glittery gyrations - football bicycle kicks
all its competitors into touch. It is a national obsession taken to almost religious levels.
I
HOWTHEWORLD CUP OF FOOTBALL
HAS POLARISED A NATION
ALL
OUTTA
LOVE
BY TIMOTHY MOTTRAM