Published on : Monday, June 30, 2014
The waterfront of New Zealand’s capital city Wellington came alive with the sound of samba beats as football fans gathered to celebrate the opening game of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Football Fiesta
The Brazilian Ambassador,H E Eduardo Gradilone, his staff and members of the local Croatian community joined hundreds of football fanatics of all nationalities, enjoying the festival atmosphere at Wellington’s Shed 6 as they watched host nation Brazil take on Croatia in a thrilling contest.
The free “Fiesta of Football” event was organised by the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2015 local organising committee, the Embassy of Brazil and Wellington City Council on a day that also marked a major milestone in the lead-up to the FIFA U-20 World Cup, being held across New Zealand in 2015.
FIFA U-20 Tickets on sale
Tickets for the U-20 World Cup 2015 – one of the biggest sporting events in the world, featuring 24 of the world’s top U-20 teams and showcasing some of the most impressive rising sporting talent – are now on general sale.
The FIFA U-20 World Cup will take place in New Zealand from May 30 – June 20, 2015 and Dave Beech, CEO of FIFA U-20 World Cup New Zealand 2015, is hoping the colour, drama and excitement in Brazil will inspire the rest of the world to come and see what New Zealand has on offer in 2015.
“The spectacular event that will be the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil will give Kiwis a taste of what’s coming to our shores in less than a year. As a nation I believe we appreciate world class talent, and that is what’s coming here in 2015 – this will be the best football we have ever seen – it’s going to be huge,” said Dave Beeche said.
World Cup fever
U-20 World Cup football fever is already starting to take hold in New Zealand after a recent nationwide tour of the FIFA U-20 World Cup trophy. Since the official welcome to the sacred shores of Waitangi – the birthplace of modern New Zealand – the trophy visited official host cities – Whangarei, Auckland, Hamilton, New Plymouth and Wellington in the North Island and Christchurch and Dunedin in the South Island. The trophy also stopped in at plenty of other New Zealand hotspots before ending with one-year-to-go celebrations in Auckland and Wellington.
Global reach
Broadcast to more than 1000 countries, with a global reach of around 170 million people, the FIFA U-20 World Cup will also help promote New Zealand to the world. Around 10,000 overseas football fans are expected to travel to the country in support of their team. During the three week tournament (30 May – 20 June 2015) New Zealand will play host to 24 international teams, with a total of 52 matches played.
Tags: new zealand, Samba, wellington, World Cup
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