When the "Kings of Soccer" host the World Cup in Brazil, it kindles passions - but it has also led to a series of problems. Brazil has encountered a whole range of problems in its preparations for the World Cup, to the extent that the country's national image has suffered. Brazil responds to a number of questions and challenges.

Strikes as a means of protest

Many subway lines in Sao Paolo have experienced strikes, worsening road traffic problems that are already serious. The government has had no other choice but to lift the rotary traffic restrictions based on car number plates. As a result, all the private cars pour onto the street, which ensnares road traffic in a vicious cycle. The Brazilian authorities are concerned by continuous large-scale anti-government protests around the World Cup. Strikers in Brazil are making use of the World Cup, a hard-won negotiation chip, to impose compromises and concessions on the authorities.

Why did they host the opening ceremony in a remote suburb filled with slums?

There are no hotels or restaurants in the vicinity of the Itaquerao stadium, surrounded by slums and lying more than twenty miles from the urban area of Sao Paolo. It takes at least four or five hours for football fans and tourists to get there and back. Concerns have emerged over security.

Originally, Brazil's Ministry of Sports and the state government of Sao Paolo wanted the Sao Paulo Futebol Clube to renovate the Estadio do Morumbi in order to use it both as the venue for the opening ceremony and as a competition venue. However, the Sao Paulo Futebol Clube believed that people could enjoy the fun of the World Cup in the existing stadium, and saw no reason to spend huge sums of money renovating the stadium. At the end of the day, they abandoned the idea of meeting the standards of a competition venue.

Dispute resolution through football

Sixty thousand football fans flooded into the Itaquerao stadium and witnessed the World Cup opener. Brazilians had a day off for the opening ceremony. For the duration of the tournament, people will put aside their disputes and gather together to experience the ups and downs of the Brazilian team - five-times World Cup winners. Football is an indispensable part of their life for the football-loving Brazilians, and they bought eighty percent of the total World Cup tickets available.

Now that the World Cup has started, all disputes and grievances will be addressed in the heavy atmosphere of football and the passions of football fans. Every Brazilian expects sixty four splendid matches, and hopes that at the culmination, the Brazilian team will hold high the FIFA World Cup. 

This article is edited and translated from 《当足球王国遇上世界杯》，source: People's Daily, author: Chen Chenxi, Yan Huan, Wang Hailin