Brazil gets World Cup rights

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It’s official: Brazil, which last hosted a soccer World Cup in 1950, will host the 2014 tournament.

Soccer’s world governing body, FIFA, announced the agreement today in Zurich, its headquarters, sparking joy in the land of jogo bonito (the beautiful game).

‘Soccer is not only a sport for us,’ said Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who was on hand for the announcement along with other prominent compatriots, including author Paulo Coelho and veteran striker Romario. ‘Soccer is for us a passion, a national passion.’

Lula, whose second term is to end well before the scheduled cup (though there has been talk of a third go-round), wants the tournament to showcase Brazil, reports Folha de S. Paulo

‘We are assuming the responsibility as a nation to prove to the world that we have a stable and growing economy,’ Lula said. ‘We have many problems, yes, but we are determined to resolve them.’

Soccer-crazed Brazilians seek a better result than in 1950, when upstart Uruguay defeated Brazil 2-1 in the final at Maracaná Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil has won a record five world cups since then, but the Maracanazo, as it is known, has not been forgotten: a humiliation in Brazil, a revelation in Uruguay.

Posted by Patrick J. McDonnell and Andrés D’Alessandro in Buenos Aires

Photo: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva delivers a speech while legendary player Romario holds the World Cup trophy in Zurich today. Credit: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images