Didn’t see a thread giving thanks to Brazil for hosting the tournament. I know there were/are issues in Brazil with hosting the World Cup but this has to be ranked as one of the best ever. I didn’t go to the final but I’ve got a few friends that did and the word is that Brazilians are fun loving and very hospitable. Thank you for inviting the whole world of football into your nation. It was lovely and I hope others will say so.
The best thing we did for this World Cup was sacrificing our team by taking 10 goals in two matches, in order to increase total goal count and goal average.
i wasn't there but many of my friends were.. they said it was a dream come true to every football fan. partied all night and in the day were sipping Brahma in the quarter finals. speechless and green..
It was wonderful. Everyone knew that a World Cup in Brazil could be a fantastic celebration of football. It was and it was the people that made it so. Concerns over crime and transport proved unfounded. As did the worry about rip off prices. I had a great time as did everyone I met. Always thought that Brazilians were lovely people and I was proved correct.
Thank you very much. I can speak for my city (Manaus) when I say that hosting this WC was a wonderful experience. To the Englishmen, Italians, Portugueses, Americans, Croatians, Swiss, Hondurans and Cameroonians, besides all the other people who came and made their presence felt (like Colombians and Venezuelans): thank you so much for sharing this feeling with us and for being great guests. Hope to see you all back one day.
Totally agree. Best trip of my life and an experience I will never forget. People were great, food and drinks were amazing, transportation was never an issue, etc. I'll definitely be back to Brazil at some point. Hopefully they can host another World Cup in my lifetime.
Did you come to Manaus, mate? You guys took the city by storm in the match against Italy; it was great. I went to the game, btw. The English were easily the majority in the stadium compared to the Italians, although the local public were mostly rooting for Italy because of all the "controversy" around Manaus and the heat — in which Hodgson played a part.
Unfortunately I didn't go to Manuas. If I had more time and money I would have done. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to visit in the future. I would also like to go to Brasilia, Salvador, Florianopolis and return to Rio and Sao Paulo. Many more places too. Hodgson did not mean any offence in his comments but it was easy to see why many interpreted it that way. Football is always better if you can find a reason to support one side over the other. Our press also said negative and untrue things as that helps them sell copies. I heard good things about Manaus from those who went. England, Germany and Holland are the countries in Europe that travel most to tournaments. This is largely because there is a much bigger culture of travelling to away domestic matches. It is much easier and quicker to get to away matches in these countries so more people do it. Italy and Spain are nowhere near as easy to travel across so far fewer do so. Ireland, Scotland and the Scandinavian countries also travel in large numbers if they qualify. It is a shame Sweden didn't make it to Brasil, their fans are great.
Thank you all non-Brazilians for your kind words. This article in Portuguese tells the other side of the story: how Brazilians greatly enjoyed the foreigners who came to our beautiful and friendly country: http://www.em.com.br/app/noticia/ge...-e-estrangeiros-resistem-ao-fim-da-copa.shtml I was there for 9 days during the quarterfinals and semifinals and had a great time. The atmosphere was simply spectacular. I've been to other World Cups and this one was way superior in terms of atmosphere. I'm proud that in spite of all the problems our country faces, the stadiums were state-of-the-art, security was top-notch, transportation in cities worked, the airports held (cancellations and delays were below the European and World averages), the hotel infrastructure held, and the Cup was mostly an astounding organizational success (with a few problems but nothing is perfect), getting from FIFA a rating of 9.25. Yes, Brazilians are laid back and not prone to respecting deadlines, but ultimately almost everything worked fine. Of course the one downside was how our team crashed, LOL. Still, lessons were learned from the collapse and hopefully we'll rebuild. Also, the kind behavior of generous winners Germany was remarkable, and Brazilians earned lots of respect and admiration not only for Germany's great team and great planning, but for the classy behavior of Germans both as professionals linked to the team and the delegation, and as fans. Particularly impressive was the fact that Ozil spent his WC prize money paying for the medical care of 23 Brazilian children who needed surgery. Thank you Ozil, and thank you Germany!
Ty Brazil! Wonderful tournament from start to finish For all the bad news we were hearing beforehand, unfinished stadiums, horrible looking pitches, protesting... it turned out awesome!
this sums up pretty good how much Brazil had to pay for hosting the WC... http://www.statista.com/topics/1976/2014-fifa-world-cup/
While I wasn't in Brazil what striked me most positively were the Brazilian posters here on BigSoccer. A great bunch of people I have to say (some of them have already posted in this thread). They showed great sportsmanship even in the hour of a bitter defeat. Kudos to all of them!
From all I've heard, everything went very well. I stayed in Rio, and went to Belo for the semis by bus. Everything ran on time. The people were great as well. Friendly and helpful when dealing with my poor Portuguese. I had some other friends who went to Brasilia, Recife, Rio and Belo. All their flights were on time. Their only complaint was that one hotel they had booked turned out to be a dump, and they had to seek alternate accommodation. Obrigado Brazil!
Yes, but Brazil can afford it. The GNP is 2.7 trillion. Brazil spent 10 billion. In the state of Minas Gerais alone (capital city, Belo Horizonte) the entire tournament brought in 2 billion (the state, including renovation of the stadium and infrastructure with the BRT bus and the annex to the airport spent 1.4 billion. Yes, I know they were protests about the expenses, but overall this was all grossly exaggerated. This Cup didn't break Brazil's bank...
I was there, there were lots of people wearing Italian jerseys, but many of them were from Brazil, Chile, Venezuela, etc.
the other populist commie economic policies from Dilma Roussef are a 100 times more responsible for breaking our economy, but we don´t see leftists protesting those...
Brazil Did a great job in hosting best WC since 1970. Very entertaining games and great atmosphere and fan support. I wish I was their to relish that international football experience quite sad I wasn't able to go.....