A Month To Go...

[ihpguy]

until the Confederations Cup. With Jesus blessing all that is important here.

Brasil awaits the arrivals of

Italy.

Japan.

Mexico.

Nigeria.

Spain.

Uruguay.

And last, but not least...

the mighty selection from

TAHITI!

[ihpguy]

Guess what? This Sunday's friendly, the only test match at the Maracana has been postponed due to safety issues.

It is like withholding spooging when one is really excited.

72 hours before showtime..ZIPPO.

And if anyone is not up to speed on the problems at the Engenhao, where the track and field will take place in 2016, the roof problems are not really roof problems. When they built the place - the enormous arched supports from which the fabric roof is suspended - used substandard steel.

[ihpguy]

It never ends, or seems to, this being Brasil after all. I have a feeling that the judge who signed the injunction yesterday is in deep do-do with our powerful governor. The news on Globo led off with the report of the injunction against opening. Really big down here. After all, what is more important, futebol or more favela violence/crime? During the night, Gov. Cabral put his foot(or whatever) down and magically the paperwork found its way to the SUDERJ and the permit is approved. I was by the Maracana last Monday, the outdoor plazas are not finished. I can only imagine what is hiding unfinished and slapped together with Scotch tape(well actually they use massive amounts of fita preta or electrical tape here) inside. It is all about saving face after all with the upcoming 2014 and 2016 events. Last night at 117 and then on the street, on the ferry and then here at home, I'd walk past people and most of what I'd hear was the cancellation of Sunday's big match. It really is huge with the Maracana's official opening. After all, with the problems at the Engenhao where Botafogo plays and the miniscule, antique, but oh so pretty Sao Januario for my Vasco, the Fluminense and Flamengo sides will actually be playing in a real, professional futebol estadio.

From a midnight BBC report:

England's friendly with Brazil in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday is expected to go ahead despite safety concerns at the recently renovated Maracana stadium. A court order on Thursday suspended the game but a duty judge later revoked the suspension, a Rio de Janeiro state government statement said.

The state government said it had presented a report showing the stadium complied with safety guidelines.

Maracana stadium

First built in 1950 for the World Cup in Brazil, the Maracana was once the largest stadium in the world, holding a crowd of around 200,000.

It has undergone a number of renovations, the most recent of which - to prepare it for the 2014 World Cup finals - has cost more than £320m.

• In pictures: Maracana stadium reopens

It had previously failed to deliver the report owing to a "bureaucratic flaw".

"All safety requirements for the friendly between Brazil and England have been complied with and, because of a bureaucratic failure, the appraisal from the public ministry that proves the compliance with the rules on safety at the Maracana have not been sent to Suderj," the Rio government said in a statement.

Suderj is a division of the Rio de Janeiro state authority which is responsible for administrative issues associated with major sports venues.

The iconic 78,000-seat Maracana reopened in April after nearly three years of work updating it for the 2014 World Cup finals.

Even though the work was completed four months behind schedule, local newspapers still reported problems with the venue.

Days before the first test event at the stadium on 27 April - a friendly featuring former Brazil players - seats were still being installed and pavements laid near the venue.

The Jornal do Brasil reported at the time that visitors "needed patience to deal with the many problems" at the venue, arising from the rush to complete it.

It highlighted uneven flooring with small gaps and holes, flooding in the VIP area and a dysfunctional lift, and said some staff had tried to prevent journalists taking pictures of the affected areas.

Play media

The state government blamed its failure to present a key report on a "bureaucratic flaw"

Rio's state prosecutors say there are dangerous materials at the venue, including rocks, pieces of metal and pavement, and that these could pose a threat to the public.

"The stadium is not yet safe to hold a full house of paying public," said South American football writer Tim Vickery, who is based in Rio.

There would have been huge pressure to overturn the suspension because of the embarrassment to the Brazilian authorities, he adds.

England's visit is scheduled to be the first major international test of the facility, with the Confederations Cup beginning two weeks later.

Roy Hodgson's squad have already arrived in Brazil ahead of what is scheduled to be England's first game at the Maracana since 1984.

[ihpguy]

We had a tie between the two sides.

For any ass and thigh guys, you have someone on the Brasil side to dream of - HULK. Yep, Brasil's version of the Incredible One.Definitely sit on your face and leave you breathless in more than one way. g

[axiom2001]

He looks like "SWEET STUFF" especially in the last photo! YUMMMMMMMY, indeed! :tongue:

[ihpguy]

Today's paper had a report from the state's hotel organization. The Confereration's Cup (GO TAHITI!) starts on the 15th and hotel's here in Rio are only booked to 57% of capacity. They are hoping to get that up to 70%. Which means 30% vacancy.

When asked if this had anything to do with the price increases that have been made to make more money, he said that the price increase wasn't the hoteliers doing but the third-party tour booking agency that is handling reservations for visitors.

If this is true, then it is very similar to what happens here with Sambodromo tickets for the Desfiles during Carnaval. We have a telephone lottery where you are allowed to buy 4 tickets. In about an hour, all the tickets are gone. However the tour companies have loads of tickets that they sell at 3, 5 or 10 times face value available until the last moment.

[msclelovr]

Interesting. I just checked booking.com to see what Rio hotels are asking there. For a week's stay in a basic room, the rates (converted into US$) range from the Atlantico (apparently now a 4* hotel!) at $153 per night, the Royal Rio at $192, the Royal Tulip at $253 up to the Sheraton Rio at $365.

I have always thought Rio's hotels are poor value for money. Nothing seems to have changed.

[axiom2001]

Interesting. I just checked booking.com to see what Rio hotels are asking there. For a week's stay in a basic room, the rates (converted into US$) range from the Atlantico (apparently now a 4* hotel!) at $153 per night, the Royal Rio at $192, the Royal Tulip at $253 up to the Sheraton Rio at $365.

I have always thought Rio's hotels are poor value for money. Nothing seems to have changed.

I liked the Royal Rio Copacabana back in 2006 or 07; I stayed in a large room on an upper floor and thought the price was equal to the services rendered. To date I use apartments which are less pricey and more private because I DO NOT like what the hotels are charging visitors now

{Thanks for checking; I did this earlier when I thought I would be in Brasil next month and the next. I checked hotel rates; then I went to two sites which has apartments for rent; there is a special thread to post and use for apartments, plus TomCal and a few others have given us heads up regarding the rental agencies.}

[ihpguy]

Back on topic here, WTF does the Royal Rio Copa have to do with the Confederation's Cup???, but Uruguay is playing the mighty lads from Tahiti right now. For Uruguay to advance to the semifinals, Forlan and Co. need to score by 8 or more goals. Spain slaughtered them by 10-Nil this week. Right now with 15 minutes to play in the second half, the Uruguaianos are up 6-0. I don't think that if the Tahitians clogged up their cleats with poi, it would help them.

Meanwhile, back to a bit of news about the demonstrations around the country, Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA fled the country a couple of days back, me'thinks to avoid embarassing questions, and supposed to return in time for the first semifinal match.

[axiom2001]

Back on topic here, WTF does the Royal Rio Copa have to do with the Confederation's Cup???, but Uruguay is playing the mighty lads from Tahiti right now. For Uruguay to advance to the semifinals, Forlan and Co. need to score by 8 or more goals. Spain slaughtered them by 10-Nil this week. Right now with 15 minutes to play in the second half, the Uruguaianos are up 6-0. I don't think that if the Tahitians clogged up their cleats with poi, it would help them.

Meanwhile, back to a bit of news about the demonstrations around the country, Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA fled the country a couple of days back, me'thinks to avoid embarassing questions, and supposed to return in time for the first semifinal match.

Why did you NOT write anything regarding Musclover's hotel comments? Did they relate to your initial thread? Since this apparently and UNNECESSARILY UPSET YOU, request from the webmaster that my comment be deleted; I will be amenable to this! Write the person who controls this and request it; it would be quite all right with me. Another writer mentioned hotel rates, so I decided to chime in!

Hope this clarifies my intention: from now on I'll be much more cognizant to your sensitivies!

[ihpguy]

Touchy. Touchy. I didn't bother to read the entire thread. Just was going to post yesterday about the the fan favorites down here from Tahitia, and the general progress of the football matches and read the post right above.

[ihpguy]

Incredibly exciting match today in the second semifinal.

The Squadra Azzurii of Italy and the hunkies of La Furia Roja of Spain played the first 45 minutes to a scoreless tie.

In the second forty-five, the Azzuri and Furia Roja did it again with a nil-nil score as time expired.

For the 15 minutes overtime, again scoreless. Great defense by the Sky Blues and not much furry from the hotties in red and gold.

Guess what, nothing doing in the second 15 minute OT.

Now to 5 penalty kicks per side. one of my favorites, Iker Casillas, the Spanish goalie stopped them all, but so do Buffone for the Italian Blues.

On the seventh kick, the Italy missed and Spain kicked it in to advance to Sunday's final at the Maracana.

Jordi Alba of Spain