The year 2014 is doesn't feel close, but an announcement made from
Zurich on Wednesday gave the planet’s fifth-largest country a sense of
immediacy about the year. That’s when Brazil, a nation famously full of
social ills and decrepit facilities is set to host the World Cup for
the first time since 1950. The influx of tourists and media and
athletes and attention will be phenomenal.

Soccer is all but
synonymous with the national character, but not every Brazilian is
celebrating, Nearly 20 percent of Brazlilians live below the poverty
level. Urban violence is an international earmark. Public services was
are so bad it’s hard to imagine that the 18 grounds in Brazil that
capable of holding 40,000 people can be refurbished in time for the
games. According to FIFA,
the country's coffers possess the equivalent of $1 billion for the task
of upgrading. Four of the 18 stadiums must be built from scratch. The
rest must see serious reparations.

Still, the overriding
reaction to this award was of joy. In Rio, citizens of the five-time
World Cup holder let off fireworks and set balloons into the sky.

"This is not just a victory for Brazil but a victory for the whole of football," President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
said at the announcement ceremony in Zurich. "I say this because I am
convinced that Brazil will stage a great tournament. This has been a
dream for us for quite some time.”

But some wary citizens said the money might be better spent on tackling Brazil's social problems and the divide between rich and poor.

“The
Cup is good for Brazil, for tourism. Visitors will find out there are
good people here,” Renato dos Santos Alves, a 25-year-old musician in
Sao Paulo, told Reuters. “But on the other hand, having the Cup in a
country with loads of hungry children is a distraction from the
problem.”

While national coach Carlos Dunga and veteran striker Romario did make the trip to Zurich for the official announcement, the world biggest “football” star Pele was absence.

"I
don't know where Pele is. He was invited," Teixeira said of the absence
of Brazil's greatest football hero on such a key occasion. Speculation
is that his absence had less to do with any protest over the
appropriateness of Brazil hosting the games than his volatile
relationship with Brazilian Football Federation President Ricardo Teixeira
The
rift between Pele and Teixeira first became public in 1993 when Pele
was snubbed by FIFA, who refused to invite him to take part in the 1994
World Cup draw, held in Las Vegas.

This rivalry will seem a petty concern if Brazil is unable to prepare for its close-up, seven years from now.