Speaking of Stadiums: Brazil Paying the Price

I noted in the previous post, the one about the stunning new stadium in Cape Town ... that I don't know if a country like South Africa really ought to be spending its money on things like that.

Well, the same goes for Brazil.

It's an emerging economy, and all, but it's not as if there's no poverty. (Check out the crime rate in Rio, if you wonder about impoverished masses.)

Now, we've got Brazil's state development bank opening a line of credit for $2.8 billion to the 2014 World Cup organizers to have 12 stadiums ready for the event. This story tells you about it.

The problems with that $2.8 billion?

1. Brazil said no public money would be used for stadiums, when it pitched its bid to FIFA. Now, FIFA almost certainly doesn't care where the money comes from, but it is dishonest and disingenuous for the bidders to have maintained that a country with zero FIFA-caliber stadiums would be able to find private money for 12 of them in time for 2014.

2. Brazil isn't exactly the richest country in the world. This site has them at No. 86 in the world in per capita income, at a modest $7,500. Leaving them behind countries such as Mexico, Malaysia, Botswana -- and even South Africa ($10,300).

Stadiums cost lots and lots of money. Money that could be used for, oh, food. Things like that.

But, in theory, Brazil will have some really nice stadiums, by 2014. Won't be able to eat them, may not be able to afford to get inside them, but poor people can look at them from a distance and ... be proud? Read more!

Wow! This Is One Nice Stadium

I had this mental image of South Africa, semi-poor, borderline Third World South Africa ... building some functional stadiums for the 2010 World Cup. They would work, we hoped, but that would be all.

Clearly, I was wrong.

At least one of the new stadiums is visually arresting. The one in Cape Town. "Green Point," it is called, in Cape Town.

Take a look for yourself. They lit up the thing last night, and three photos are posted at the Johannesburg Sunday Times web site.

Doesn't it look like a gigantic diamond sitting there in the distance? Reflecting all that light, like the facets of a gem?

Very impressive. Bravo, South Africa.

I don't know if you can afford this (and who can afford any of the great world events?) ... but that is one sharp stadium. Like the Bird's Nest in Beijing ... except maybe even more visually arresting.

Well done.
Read more!

Beckham's Path to World Cup Smoothed

We've all been worrying our pretty heads over this. Or maybe we're worrying about David Beckham's pretty head.

Anyway, it appears the path is clear for Beckham to make his triumphant return to World Cup action. Or at least to a World Cup roster.

The boss of AC Milan says a loan deal with the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer is finished. All it lacks are signatures. (A minor detail, right?)

Becks will return to Milan for the second half of the Seria A season, beginning in January ... a pre-condition, according to England coach Fabio Capello, for Becks contending for a spot on the England team.

(Taking the winter off, then spending a few months early in the MLS season with the Galaxy apparently doesn't pass muster as proper preparation for South Africa 2010.)

It's not entirely clear why England needs its "bend it like" poster boy. He seems to be about their fourth choice at right mid, realistically.

But there seems to be some odd, cosmic force behind Beckham ... pressing for his inclusion on the England team. Just to bring it a dash more celebrity, or something? To satisfy the yearnings of global fans who don't quite realize he isn't the player he once was?

Perhaps because the WAGs won't be as fun without prissy, pouty Victoria?

Barring injury, or some massive and complete loss of form at Milan -- which is possible, when a player is going to turn 34 in May -- it seems as if Capello is ready to find a place for Becks.

We're so relieved. Read more!

Deliverance, Revelry in Honduras

I meant to check on this 12 days ago, when it happened. But one thing led to another, there were plane rides across oceans, things got pushed to the back of my mind ...

But now we shall get to this:

The reaction in Honduras to its semi-miraculous breakthrough to the World Cup -- for the first time since 1982.

Remember, Honduras has been troubled by civil unrest for more than a month, going back to the coup that ousted the president and his subsequent secretive return to the country and hiding out in the Brazilian embassy.

Perhaps disturbed by the national crises, Honduras's team suffered a crushing home defeat on Oct. 10 when it lost, 3-2, to the United States, missing a penalty in the process. Honduras had won its other four home matches in the final round of qualifying, and one more would have clinched one of the three Concacaf automatic berths at South Africa 2010.

To recount, this is what Honduras needed, on the final day of Concacaf qualifying, on Oct. 14:

A victory at El Salvador. Combined with an American victory or tie vs. Costa Rica.

Without some combination of that ... Honduras would finish fourth in the six-team Concacaf standings and face a difficult home-and-home playoffs with the No. 5 team from South America (Uruguay, as it turns out) for a berth.

Here is the version of events as described on fifa.com.

The key points: Honduras won in El Salvador, 1-0, but as the match ended Costa Rica still held on to a 2-1 lead, and all looked lost.

Then the U.S. scored in the fifth minute of extra time, barely ahead of the final whistle, the match with Costa Rica ended in a tie ... and Honduras suddenly was in the finals.

That set off wild celebrations among Honduras fans at San Salvador, among the players -- and all over the country.

The next day, Oct. 15, was declared a national holiday.

We're going to guess that the U.S. team is fairly popular in Honduras, still, for reasons that would defy easy explanation to anyone who isn't a soccer fan. Read more!

Parreira, South Africa: Tough Job

Wow. Rough crowd.

Carlos Alberto Parreira of Brazil is back as coach of the national team for 2010 World Cup host South Africa, and it seems fair to suggest he is not being hailed as a conquering hero.

More like a prodigal son ... whose family hasn't forgiven him for leaving.

Parreira was named to coach South Africa on Friday, replacing countryman Joel Santana, who had overseen a Bafana Bafana side that had lost eight of nine matches.

In a lengthy story in my favorite Johannesburg newspaper, the Sunday Times, Parreira already is deflecting criticism. Much of having to do with his first stint coaching the national team, for 15 months, into last year.

It's not as if Parreira was disgusted by South Africa or the players. He left after 15 months (when he was supposed to stay through 2010) because his wife of 39 years had a double mastectomy. Which seems like quite a legitimate reason to cross back over the Atlantic, does it not?

The Sunday Times also suggested Parreira's detractors believe he is coming back merely for the money. Well, yes, coaches do expect to get paid.

The point being, he seems to return to a country where antipathy to him already is high.

To be sure, he made a misstep or two. He compared the preparations for 2010 to "going to war", which is something only someone from a country that hasn't actually been to war for a very long time might say. (And when was Brazil's last war? The War of the Triple Alliance, 1864-70?)

But, gee, this looks like a tough crowd, in the South Africa market.

From the perspective of an outsider, South Africa doesn't seem quite ready for a home-grown coach, not when its world ranking has fallen to No. 85 (just behind Mozambique, just ahead of Haiti) -- meaning it almost certainly will be the lowest-ranked team to play in the World Cup. (Unless New Zealand gets in and South Africa slips past it.)

Someone who has put together successful World Cup campaigns in the past (Parreira led Brazil to the 1994 World Cup championship) seems important to the South Africa cause. Find an astute judge of talent, get the team organized, give it some confidence, turn it loose in front of the home fans ... and it should be competitive.

But only if Parreira is given a fair chance to succeed.
Read more!

National Disinterest in Injured U.S. Striker?

Charie Davies, who had been a regular in the United States First XI for most of this year, was nearly killed in a one-car accident earlier this month.

Three people were in the vehicle, which crashed at 3:15 a.m. on Oct. 13 ... and one of the people in the car died.

The incident is covered in this story.

What is interesting about this event ... is how little coverage and attention it has gotten since. Which may tell us quite a bit about the status of soccer in the United States.

To my knowledge, this story has not moved much further along, in the subsequent 11 days, aside from one update about Davies being moved out of intensive care, and how he still faces surgery on his elbow and, perhaps face.

A few soccer fans in the U.S. have noticed that some huge questions in the affair remain unanswered, to my knowledge.

-- Who was driving?

--Were tests run for alcohol or drugs?

--Could criminal charges be lodged?

--What was Charlie Davies doing in a car on a major road at 3:15 a.m. -- breaking curfew barely 36 hours before the U.S. was scheduled to play a World Cup qualifying match?

It has been suggested that this news blackout would not have survived if the athlete in question had been an American football star. Or basketball player. Or a star in one of the other major U.S. sports, such as baseball.

Journalists can be pretty successful in wheedling information from authorities, if they put their minds to it. If their editors care.

Apparently, there isn't much will-power here to find out what happened.

It also makes me wonder if, say, a starting forward on a major European or South American side had been almost killed in an early morning wreck, whether fans in that European or South American country would still be guessing at what happened almost two weeks later?

I think not.

My sense is that this story would remain shrouded in mystery only in a few major (or quasi-major) soccer countries -- and the U.S. is one of them. If not the only one.

The U.S. cares about soccer ... it cares about the World Cup, and its team is good enough to qualify for it. But the sport still is not so big that getting to the bottom of what happened to one of its prominent player is Job 1 for anyone.

Interesting. Read more!

Parreira Back as South Africa Coach

At least that's what is being reported by Kick Off magazine.

Carlos Alberto Parreira is returning as coach of the South African national team, a week after federation dismissed another Brazilian, Joel Santana -- who had the bad form to have lost eight of his final nine matches running the Bafana Bafana.

Santana replaced Parreira in April of last year when Parreira resigned for what he called "personal reasons." Until then, it had been assumed Parreira would lead South Africa through the 2010 World Cup.

Parreira's appointment is important for several reasons.

--South Africa had to make a change. No one wants a host country that can't compete, and when South Africa lost 1-0 at Iceland, and was manhandled by Germany in a 2-0 defeat ... the Bafana Bafana was beginning to look as if it didn't belong in the 2010 World Cup, even if it were hosting it.

--Parreira is one of the handful of men in the world who has coached a team to the World Cup championship, leading Brazil to the title in 1994.

--Parreira isn't new to South African football. He coached the team in 2007 and into 2008. So he already knows the most important players. He won't be starting from Ground Zero, and that is important, considering the World Cup is less than eight months off -- 230 days, to be exact. That isn't long to batter the squad into shape.

To be sure, Parreira is something of a controversial figure. (As all coaches are, yes?) He was heavily criticized in 2006 when his Brazil team went out to France in the quarterfinals of the World Cup. His tactics were old and tired, some said, and others suggested he had lost control of his team.

Parreira is not a young man. At 66, he is at the upper end of the age bracket that can be expected to do well in a World Cup. It is a supremely demanding job, with enormous pressures.

Still, we're not sure South Africa could have done much better. The federation hired a man who knows the team, is familiar with the country and has won the biggest prize in football.

He takes over a team that played bravely, and well, against Brazil and Spain in the Confederations Cup, last June. So there is hope, still, that South Africa can make a good showing at the 2010 World Cup -- on the field as well as off it.
Read more!