Apart from the football itself, the 2014 FIFA World Cup has created a whole universe around the competition. In the following months, the whole world will be invaded by all kinds of publicity and events linked to Brazil’s phenomenon. But do you know what a Caxirola is? Or what Brazuca means? This article will try to update and prepare you for the sportive event of the year.
The contest has caused a certain amount of controversy since the first day. It is noteworthy that the 2014 World Cup is the most expensive so far, putting an investment equal to the ones of 2006 in Germany, and 2010 in South Africa…together. Most Brazilians are however not very happy with the amount public money being invested in the necessary infrastructures built for hosting the occasion, even though President Rousseff said that the money would be repaid by the various sponsors.
One of these sponsors is Budweiser, who became quite controversial as it managed Brazilian law. In 2003 Brazil passed a law forbidding the sale of alcohol in stadiums, but as Budweiser is a major sponsor, FIFA asked Brazil to reconsider. As an interesting turn of events, it will now be possible to buy an ice-cold beer inside the stadium while enjoying the match, yet peculiar enough. This episode has been nick named the “Budweiser bill”.
There is also cutting-edge technology in this World cup. Does Brazuca ring a bell? No? Keep reading then. Brazuca is the 12th football which Adidas has created for a World Cup. In contrast to the criticised Jabulani ball of 2010, Brazuca has overwhelmed its competition with its finesse and innovation. Now many even consider its product one of the best. The 2014 World Cup will also go down as the first to use so-called ‘goal-line technology’. The system consists of seven high-speed cameras per goal, which are mounted on the catwalks around the field, making it far easier to judge whether a goal is scored or not.
Brazil is known as the spiritual home the rhythm and music: so it simply could not be hosting football matches in silence. Carlinhos Brown has created a percussion instrument called Caxirola which consists of a plastic basket filled with small synthetic particles. The instrument works similarly to maracas, which will create and stimulate the fine atmosphere around every match.
And speaking of stimulation I am going to introduce you to Fuleco, the three-banded armadillo World Cup mascot. This species originates from North-eastern Brazil, and one of the goals of the FIFA is that Fuleco will help to raise consciousness about environment. However, the reason for choosing this kind of armadillo is quite simple: this type of armadillo will form a compact ball in order to protect itself from predators. Indeed, go ahead and make the connection between a football and an armadillo!
After reading this short introduction to the 2014 World Cup, you are more than prepared to face one month of intense football. Even if you do not enjoy football you still have a chance to have a good time dancing to the rhythms of Caxirolas and samba!
See here some interesting football data bases:
FIFA GlossaryFootball words, phrases and vocabulary
Soccer GlossaryFootball vocabulary (En-Es-Fr)
By Helene Aguirre Mindeguia, student of the MA Learning & Communication in Multilingual and Multicultural Context (University Luxembourg) – Study visitor at TermCoord