Football-mad Brazil is about to host the 2014 World Cup, the first time it has hosted the World Cup since 1950.
It is said that football may have been invented in England, but Brazil - which has football as its national religion in the same way that India has cricket as its - is where its spiritual home is.
If you’re a football fan, going to Brazil - the world's most successful footballing nation - feels like making a pilgrimage to a wonderful shrine.
If you’re a football fan, it’s all you ever dreamed the home of beautiful football would be and more.
The memories any football fan visiting Brazil will bring home are of scores and scores of beach football matches taking place the length of Copacabana and Ipanema.
They are of the beach footballers stopping their matches to applaud as the sun sinks behind Gavea, where England will be staying.
And, of course, of setting foot in the mighty Maracana, the spiritual home of Garrincha and Pele and Socrates and Eder and all our other Brazilian heroes.
That’s why it feels like there will be something special about this World Cup, more than any other in our lifetimes.
Because of what Brazil means to the world's greatest game and what the game means to Brazil and its people.
However, whilst many Brazilians are looking forward to hosting the Beautiful Game, and millions of footie fans are looking forward to them hosting it, there are some Brazilians who aren't so sure.
The build-up to the World Cup has been marked by demonstrations – protests which are likely to continue as the event progresses – about the cost of hosting the planet’s best players. Many in Brazil are furious at the vast expense involved in building a raft of new stadia for a month-long tournament when many areas are lacking schools and hospitals.
This current of anger is also increasingly visible on the walls of Rio and Sao Paulo.
Whatever the outcome on the pitch, this is a World Cup that will certainly be colourful.
The beautiful game: Stunning images reveal amazing street art on walls of Rio and Sao Paulo as Brazil prepares for a footballing feast
By Chris Leadbeater
11 June 2014
Daily Mail
There will be many facets to the upcoming World Cup – amazing matches (and plenty of dreary ones); tremendous ball skills (and plenty of rank bad play); a party atmosphere in the stands; the usual tears when England inevitably under-perform and are knocked out.
But one of the more intriguing side shows to the planet’s biggest football extravaganza is the wealth of street art that is currently appearing on buildings, walls and just about any paint-plausible public space in major Brazilian cities like Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.
Don't make him angry: Brazilian striker Hulk is transformed into his 'Incredible' cartoon namesake as rival stars Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) and Lionel Messi (Argentina) cower underneath, and a young boy - maybe a star of the future - shows off his footie skills. The Beautiful Game is like a religion in Brazil
Perhaps unsurprisingly, much of this impromptu culture focuses on the sport itself, with famous footballers of the moment – Brazil’s current poster boy Neymar, plus superstars like Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentina’s Lionel Messi – captured in caricature.
But many of these graffiti daubs have a more serious – and decidedly critical – undertone.
The build-up to the World Cup has been marked by demonstrations – protests which are likely to continue as the event progresses – about the cost of hosting the planet’s best players. Many in Brazil are furious at the vast expense involved in building a raft of new stadia for a month-long tournament when many areas are lacking schools and hospitals.
This current of anger is also increasingly visible on the walls of Rio and Sao Paulo.
Whatever the outcome on the pitch, this is a World Cup that will certainly be colourful.
More people globally will watch each match in the 2014 World Cup than watched the Super Bowl
Focused on the prize: A positive tribute to the tournament in Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city, where a rainbow cluster of hands is seen holding up the planet. Brazil is looking to win the tournament for a record sixth time
Heroes of the past: Former Brazilian football greats Zico (left) and the all-conquering Pele (right) are eulogised in this Rio street scene
'We want our tram': The placard at the heart of this image demands the restoration of the tram line - currently out of action - in Santa Teresa, Rio
Searching for a saviour: Rio's famous statue of Christ The Redeemer wears a Brazilian flag next to the welcoming message 'Arms open to all nations'
Weight of the world: A young boy sheds a tear as he carries an enormous football on his back - a potent critique of the cost of the tournament
A visible anger: The message of this scene is clear, decrying the money being lavished on the tournament when may in Brazil cannot afford to eat
You're not welcome here: Another side of the World Cup from Sao Paulo as this angry image tells football's governing body FIFA to 'go home'
No room for confusion: 'FIFA Go Home' - with a hand grenade included in the image for good measure - crops up again in Rio de Janeiro
Not a game: A young child in Brazilian kit celebrates on a rooftop in sight of an armed man opposite - in this scene from Sao Paulo's Vila Flavia favela
Art imitating life: Two young boys have a quick kick-about in Sao Paulo in front of a giant image celebrating the upcoming World Cup
High hopes, yellow fever: The current Brazil team - with coach Luis Felipe Scolari standing to the right - are celebrated on a wall in Rio de Janeiro
Unto the breach: Current Brazilian players including Hulk (top) and Neymar (left) are celebrated in the Vicente de Carvalho district of Rio
Down the toilet: This Sao Paulo scene by artist Cranio makes clear its feelings on whether the World Cup is good value. 'Dinheiro Publico' means 'public money'
Read more: World Cup 2014: Stunning photos reveal amazing street art on the streets of Rio and Sao Paulo as Brazil prepares for a football feast | Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
It is said that football may have been invented in England, but Brazil - which has football as its national religion in the same way that India has cricket as its - is where its spiritual home is.
If you’re a football fan, going to Brazil - the world's most successful footballing nation - feels like making a pilgrimage to a wonderful shrine.
If you’re a football fan, it’s all you ever dreamed the home of beautiful football would be and more.
The memories any football fan visiting Brazil will bring home are of scores and scores of beach football matches taking place the length of Copacabana and Ipanema.
They are of the beach footballers stopping their matches to applaud as the sun sinks behind Gavea, where England will be staying.
And, of course, of setting foot in the mighty Maracana, the spiritual home of Garrincha and Pele and Socrates and Eder and all our other Brazilian heroes.
That’s why it feels like there will be something special about this World Cup, more than any other in our lifetimes.
Because of what Brazil means to the world's greatest game and what the game means to Brazil and its people.
However, whilst many Brazilians are looking forward to hosting the Beautiful Game, and millions of footie fans are looking forward to them hosting it, there are some Brazilians who aren't so sure.
The build-up to the World Cup has been marked by demonstrations – protests which are likely to continue as the event progresses – about the cost of hosting the planet’s best players. Many in Brazil are furious at the vast expense involved in building a raft of new stadia for a month-long tournament when many areas are lacking schools and hospitals.
This current of anger is also increasingly visible on the walls of Rio and Sao Paulo.
Whatever the outcome on the pitch, this is a World Cup that will certainly be colourful.
The beautiful game: Stunning images reveal amazing street art on walls of Rio and Sao Paulo as Brazil prepares for a footballing feast
By Chris Leadbeater
11 June 2014
Daily Mail
There will be many facets to the upcoming World Cup – amazing matches (and plenty of dreary ones); tremendous ball skills (and plenty of rank bad play); a party atmosphere in the stands; the usual tears when England inevitably under-perform and are knocked out.
But one of the more intriguing side shows to the planet’s biggest football extravaganza is the wealth of street art that is currently appearing on buildings, walls and just about any paint-plausible public space in major Brazilian cities like Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.
Don't make him angry: Brazilian striker Hulk is transformed into his 'Incredible' cartoon namesake as rival stars Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) and Lionel Messi (Argentina) cower underneath, and a young boy - maybe a star of the future - shows off his footie skills. The Beautiful Game is like a religion in Brazil
Perhaps unsurprisingly, much of this impromptu culture focuses on the sport itself, with famous footballers of the moment – Brazil’s current poster boy Neymar, plus superstars like Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentina’s Lionel Messi – captured in caricature.
But many of these graffiti daubs have a more serious – and decidedly critical – undertone.
The build-up to the World Cup has been marked by demonstrations – protests which are likely to continue as the event progresses – about the cost of hosting the planet’s best players. Many in Brazil are furious at the vast expense involved in building a raft of new stadia for a month-long tournament when many areas are lacking schools and hospitals.
This current of anger is also increasingly visible on the walls of Rio and Sao Paulo.
Whatever the outcome on the pitch, this is a World Cup that will certainly be colourful.
More people globally will watch each match in the 2014 World Cup than watched the Super Bowl
Focused on the prize: A positive tribute to the tournament in Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city, where a rainbow cluster of hands is seen holding up the planet. Brazil is looking to win the tournament for a record sixth time
Heroes of the past: Former Brazilian football greats Zico (left) and the all-conquering Pele (right) are eulogised in this Rio street scene
'We want our tram': The placard at the heart of this image demands the restoration of the tram line - currently out of action - in Santa Teresa, Rio
Searching for a saviour: Rio's famous statue of Christ The Redeemer wears a Brazilian flag next to the welcoming message 'Arms open to all nations'
Weight of the world: A young boy sheds a tear as he carries an enormous football on his back - a potent critique of the cost of the tournament
A visible anger: The message of this scene is clear, decrying the money being lavished on the tournament when may in Brazil cannot afford to eat
You're not welcome here: Another side of the World Cup from Sao Paulo as this angry image tells football's governing body FIFA to 'go home'
No room for confusion: 'FIFA Go Home' - with a hand grenade included in the image for good measure - crops up again in Rio de Janeiro
Not a game: A young child in Brazilian kit celebrates on a rooftop in sight of an armed man opposite - in this scene from Sao Paulo's Vila Flavia favela
Art imitating life: Two young boys have a quick kick-about in Sao Paulo in front of a giant image celebrating the upcoming World Cup
High hopes, yellow fever: The current Brazil team - with coach Luis Felipe Scolari standing to the right - are celebrated on a wall in Rio de Janeiro
Unto the breach: Current Brazilian players including Hulk (top) and Neymar (left) are celebrated in the Vicente de Carvalho district of Rio
Down the toilet: This Sao Paulo scene by artist Cranio makes clear its feelings on whether the World Cup is good value. 'Dinheiro Publico' means 'public money'
Read more: World Cup 2014: Stunning photos reveal amazing street art on the streets of Rio and Sao Paulo as Brazil prepares for a football feast | Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
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