World Cup 2014, Salvador
65The World Cup 2014 is nearly upon us again, and for the second time in World Cup football, Brazil is again the host Nation, and very deserving so to. Brazil has won the World Cup Trophy five times, more than any other nation, Argentina has won the trophy four times, Germany three times, and England, France and Spain ( the current holders ) have won it once. Brazil's football players are legendary, with Pele taking top spot of the all time ever greatest players for Brazil. Brazil are hoping to make the 2014 World Cup their sixth cup win, making them supreme World Cup Champions and relieving Spain of holding it.
Brazil is home to the Amazon River and the the world famous Amazon Rain Forest. The forest itself is still 31% unexplored, keeping scientists dreams of lost tribes and ancient Aztec cities alive. There has been many gold mines across Brazil, and some of the major cities were founded on a gold rush for the area, and some geologists believe that parts of the Rain Forest will still yield undiscovered gold streaks in the future. Whereas some scientists believe that the forests will relinquish untold medicines from its yet undiscovered plant life and otherS imagine that there are scores more deadly insects, snakes and spiders yet to be found. Brazil's wandering spider, is quite a handful, literally, it can grow to over 15 cm in diameter and can kill a man in a few minutes, there are numerous venomous snakes which can give a nasty bite, then you have the poisonous ones which can kill if the wound is not treated. Welcome to Brazil, the home of football, Aztec mysteries and killer spiders and snakes.
Salvador, translated means Savior, is where the whole 2014 World Cup will kick off, with fire works, street parades and some spectacular events which are being kept a secret. There is only one small snag. The city of Salvador does not have a football stadium. In May 2009, when Brazil was given the honour of hosting this prestigious contest once again, it promised that they would build a new stadium, plans were put into action and as is the norm in Brazil, the government will build the stadium and keep possession of it. The video here shows what the stadium looked like on August 29th 2010. As you can see, there is still a lot of work to do, or at least to start. The old stadium was closed in 2007 after an accident caused the death of eight people, and when the stadium is finisehd, it will have a 50.000 capacity with an extra 5000 VIP places, and only 62 toilets.
There are to be twelve host cities in Brazil, including Salvador, and there is only one other city which is completely rebuilding a stadium just for the world Cup 2014. The 12 host cities are listed below with a map showing where they are in Brazil.
Salvador........Curitiba........Cuiaba.....Recife....Porto Alegre.....Rio de Janeiro
Natal......Belo Horizonte.........Brasilia.......Manaus....Fortaleza......Sao Paulo
Click on the city to find information about the stadiums, tourism, hotels, hostels, and car rentals
