After a 15-hour flight from Doha, first I arrived in Sao Paulo and then in Rio de Janeiro. I travelled almost around the whole world. I departed for Doha from Tbilisi, from Doha to South America through the African continent. So, I am among those people who have crossed the equator.

Sao Paulo does not seem to host the opening match of World Cup on June 12. Anyway, there was no poster of Mundial at the airport. Some employees of the airport were just wearing T-shirts of Brazil. Free internet was not working at the airport and only few people knew English. Like me, other journalists could hardly find the terminal to travel to Rio.

Of course, we must not pay attention only to minuses because finally, football will outweigh everything. However, media has reported many times that Brazil is not completely ready to hold World Cup and it turned out to be true. Brazil-Croatia match will open the championship in Sao Paulo. The opening ceremony will be held 2 hours before the start of the match. Singers Jennifer Lopez, Paul McCartney, Beyonce and “Pitbull” will participate in the opening ceremony. Of course, the ceremony will not be held without legendary Pele.  

On my way to Sao Paulo, I travelled with the vice-president of the Iranian Football Federation. He was sleeping and when he woke up I introduced myself. As it turned out, he headed the Iranian delegation which includes 40 journalists. To my surprise, he told me there is a daily sports newspaper in Iran. According to the official of the Iranian Federation, besides football, the Iranian children are interested in basketball, handball and volleyball. And, of course, wrestling which is as popular as football.

Reza Mehmed, as he introduced himself, talked about the chances of Iran and highlighted the first match against Nigeria will be decisive. According to Mehmed, team plays good football since the appointment of head coach Carlos Queiroz. We separated in Sao Paulo but before flying to Rio, I talked to the Nigerian journalists. They highlighted neither Nigeria nor any other African teams will achieve success at the 2014 World Cup. Of course, we recalled the Nigerian national team of the 90s. Nwankwo Kanu, Sunday Oliseh, Daniel Amokachi, Jay-Jay Okocha were real masters. According to them, Rashidi Yekini, former central forward of the national team, passed away. Perhaps, the football fans remember when Yekini scored goal at the 1994 World Cup and expressed his happiness in a very original way.

Lasha Tabagari, special correspondent of www.worldsport.ge from Rio de Janeiro