| RIO DE JANEIRO // Empty crisp packets, margarine tubs, plastic bottles and bags, glass jars, large polystyrene packaging, television sets, living room furniture and even a dead dog – the contents of the murky Guanabara Bay have long been a problem for Rio de Janeiro. Less than a month after the 2014 Fifa World Cup final was held in the city, the sporting spotlight is powering back up and being directed at Brazil’s most striking metropolis again. Today marks two years until the start of the 2016 Olympic Games and coincides with the first of Rio’s 45 official test events scheduled to be held over the next 24 months. The international sailing regatta started on Saturday and runs for one week, but already an Austrian boat has been damaged after hitting rubbish while training in the bay, and its pilot, Nico Delle Karth, revealing he saw a dead dog floating on the surface. Rio’s polluted water is proving an all-too-visible – and smell-able – symbol of the problems the city is facing in its preparations. To continue reading click here. |
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Below are a series of short features published in The National looking at some of the World Cup's most memorable figures. While not necessarily the greatest players the game has ever seen, they are undoubtedly among football's most intriguing characters. The object of the series was to uncover some little-known facts about these iconically popular players. From René Higuita and his new home in Saudi Arabia to a Swedish magazine named after a long-forgotten Brazilian defender, the collection includes plenty. The wonderful illustrations are by Matthew Kurian. ISWAS The Goalkeepers The Defenders The Midfielders The Strikers The Managers
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Gary MeenaghanSports scribbler. Pedant with prose. Alliteration addict. Omnivore. Archives
June 2015
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