Marcos, goalkeeper of the Brazilian team who won the World Cup 2002, announced his retirement, at age 38. He retires after a career of 20 years, playing only for one team: Palmeiras; the team informed that no other player will wear jacket #12, the one Marcos used to wear; also, there plans of building an statue of Marcos to be planted at the stadium of Palmeiras.

This blog has been a little abandoned lately, and the reason for such had been forewarned by FIFA's General Secretary almost a year ago: Brazil only starts to work after Carnival (and in 2011 the Carnival will be from 5th through 8th March).

Little happened these past few months (this latest status is still up to date).

Today, FIFA announced the countries which will host the World Cup of 2018 (Russia) and of 2022 (Qatar).

Inspired by that event, many people are searching for information about the World Cup 2014 in Brazil.

So, follows a brief description of the situation as of today, December 2nd 2010:

The host cities were announced in May of 2009.

With the quick growth of tourism in Brazil, the number of people looking for accommodation with high levels of comfort, personalized services, unique decoration, discrete location (the so called Charming Hotels) is also growing.

Roteiros de Charme (Tours of Charm) is the private association which congregates the Charming Hotels in Brazil.

Several people have been coming to this website looking for information about volunteer work in the World Cup 2014; unfortunately, there is little to be said (when applications will start, what criteria will be used, which skills will be demanded, etc), because neither FIFA nor the Brazilian Local Committee have published any information about the topic yet.

FIFA officials are visiting Brazil this week; Secretary General Jerome Valcke has met with members of the Local Organising Committee and Government officials to get updates on the World Cup 2014.

CBF has announced that the draw which will define the qualifying groups for the World Cup 2014 will be held in July of 2011 in the city of Rio de Janeiro (which was the only candidate city to host the event).

A few weeks ago, Neymar, player of Santos FC and a rising star of the Brazilian team, had offers to move to Chelsea; a few days ago, Neymar declared that he would decline Chelsea's offer and would stay in Brazil.

Was Neymar naive? Far from it.

According to rumours (leaks?), Chelsea offered to pay £55,000 per week, which converts to about R$ 600,000 per month.

Lancenet, one of the most influential sports website in Brazil, published yesterday a report about the Local Organising Committee of the World Cup 2014.

The members of the LOC were all chosen by the President of CBF, Ricardo Teixeira: Joana Havelange, Teixeira's daughter (Teixeira is son in law of Joao Havelange, who was President of FIFA from 1974 to 1998); Francisco Mussnich, Teixeira's lawyer; Mario Rosa, Teixeira's advisor in Brasilia, helped Teixeira while he was responding to a Probing Comission before the Brazilian Senate, in 2001); Rodrigo Paiva, spokesman of CBF; and economist Carlos Langoni, former President of the Central Bank of Brazil.

The buses systems of the main Brazilian cities are not reliable. In most cities, urban trains barely exist. The metro is the most reliable means of transportation, but the grid is not as comprehensive as they should.

Foreing tourists will probably have to resort to taxis. Brazilian taxi systems in the large cities are usually reasonably organized (much better organized than in South Africa).

The site Copa 2014 published today information about the new Arena Corinthians Itaquera. The idea of building this arena is not new; there were notes about it a year ago and again a few months ago.

The difference now is that an actual project was presented to the President of Corinthians, by Architecture Office Castro Mello (who also projected the National Stadium in Brasilia).

FIFA and CBF have already declared that their main concern for the World Cup 2014 is with the airports.

Brazilian airports are already operating above capacity and, despite measures to attempt to speed up their building, we don't know if the airports will be ready for 2014. Even if the airports are ready, we don't know if there will be a sufficient supply of seats.

Time Magazine published this article "Is China ready to host the World Cup in 16 Years?".

China is considering to bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 2026 (the bidding processes for 2018 and 2022 are under way, and biddings are closed). According to Time, so big is the presence of China in the World today (in Economy, Sports, culture, Politics, etc) that the country stands good chances to host the event in 2026.

The Brazilian legislation specifies seven different kinds of Visa; read more about all Brazil Visas.

Visitors coming for visitation and recration purposes, just a Tourist Visa is necessary (that's the easiest one to obtain).

To work as a volunteer in Brazil (even if no payment is involved), it is necessary a Temporary Visa; the volunteer work is considered "cultural trip" or "studies mission", as qualified in article 13, item I of this Law.

Brazilian legislation specifies seven different kinds of Travel Visas.

For visitors who come for visitation or recreation purposes only, as is the case of most people coming to attend the World Cup in 2014, the applicable Visa is the Tourist Visa. Those who come for business or work purposes (including journalists and volunteers) must apply for a Temporary Visa.

Below, a short guide for people who are thinking about visiting the World Heritage Sites in Brazil during the World Cup.

A few days ago, Unesco inscribed another Brazilian Monument as a World Heritage Site: the Sao Francisco Square.

The Square is in the city of Sao Cristovao, in the State of Sergipe; founded in 1590, it is the fourth oldest city in Brazil.